EDITORIAL. 



505 



the buffalo that yet remain, and this can cer- 

 tainly be successfully done by keeping a herd 

 on the Flathead Reservation range, where it 

 has proven to be a success. 



SHAM NATURAL HISTORY. 



There is trouble among the Nature writ- 

 ers — and it all came about through a certain 

 three-footed lady beaver, and John Bur- 

 roughs. 



Everything was going swimmingly; the 

 public reading with avidity; the editors smil- 

 ing blandly, and the Nature writers writing 

 feverishly, for they realized it was high noon 

 and they were on the sunny side of the way. 



Then John Burroughs took a hand, and 

 now all the Nature writers are quarrelling, 

 and the public shows a disposition to laugh. 



The history of the thing is as follows : 

 Mr. Joseph Brunner, of Montana, wrote 

 an article on "The Vanishing Beaver" that 

 appeared in Country Life in America. This 

 paper was illustrated prodigally, the illus- 

 tration being made, according to the author, 

 from photographs that he had taken of living 

 beaver in their haunts. A sympathetic editor 

 wrote an introduction saying, "This remark- 

 able series of pictures represents an extra- 

 ordinary achievement in Nature-photography. 

 It is believed that photographs of live beav- 

 ers in their native environment have never 

 before been published." 



This statement has but one fault. It is too 

 modest. We all know that no such photo- 

 graphs had ever been published, and one 

 might perhaps be pardoned for hoping that 

 — well, .no matter. 



Will not Mr. Brunner tell us some day how 

 he caught these beaver in their several acts ; 

 what camera and lens he used, and how he 

 trained his beaver to do things no beaver 

 ever yet did for other men? 



If Mr. Brunner cares to have me do so I 

 shall be pleased to point out the truly won- 

 derful things in the "Vanishing Beaver" 

 article, and expect to have no difficulty in 

 securing corroborative testimony from sev- 

 eral Hudson Bay officers, and Indian and 

 white trappers. 



This paper started the fashion, and in due 

 course it was followed by another by Mr. 

 C. E. Williams, of Lincoln, Nebraska, which 

 saw the light in McClure's for January. 



This writer called his contribution 

 "Glimpses of Beaver at Work." His was 

 quite a pathetic and intensely interesting 

 little story, all about a little mother beaver 

 that had lost a forefoot in. a trap, her hercu- 

 lean labors and her children. 



Then Mr. John Burroughs, the trained ob- 

 server, the delightful writer, and the sturdy 

 opponent of t he ^Esops-Thompson-Seton- 

 Long School, entered the arena. He has a 

 corral in Outing, wherein he disports him- 

 self, much to our delight and improvement, 

 untrammeled and responsible only to the 



trues. Everything the gifted author of "Lo- 

 custs and Wild Honey" writes is read by 

 thousands, who, like us, believe in him more 

 than they believe in the predictions of the 

 weather bureau. 



Mr. Burroughs simply tore the Williams 

 article to tatters, and then stamped on the 

 fragments. But he applauded the Brunner 

 exposition of beaver ways, declaring it to 

 be "an admirable paper," having evidently 

 accepted, without cavil, that gentleman's 

 statements and photographs — from life (?). 



Now, this, of course, ought to settle the 

 matter, yet one would like the veteran na- 

 turalist to answer a few questions. Does he 

 doubt that it is possible to watch beaver 

 at short range, if to leeward of them, and 

 well hidden? It is impossible for him to 

 believe, that beavers do occasionally build 

 their dams on a gravel bottom? Would he 

 refuse to credit that, back in the wild woods 

 beavers do go out to work between four 

 and five p. m. and earlier on dull rainy days, 

 and continue to work, play and feed until 

 grey dawn? Lastly, has Mr. Burroughs ever 

 had an opportunity of really studying these 

 interesting animals, in haunts where they are 

 rarely, if ever, intruded upon? 



Mr. Williams has apparently seen beaver 

 at work, but being an untrained observer he 

 has, perhaps, not always interpreted what he 

 did see correctly, and in this respect he does 

 not differ from some celebrated writers. Yet 

 one of his statements seems to indicate per- 

 sonal observation, for he speaks of "grey" 

 beaver, and it seems improbable that this 

 should be an accidental expression. One 

 accustomed to the beaver of the East would 

 not think of using this term, and might well 

 question the accuracy of this statement ; yet 

 among Professor Allen's fine collection of 

 skins, are some from Arizona that are best 

 described as grey, that is, they are nearer 

 grey than bay — the usual beaver color. 



Recreation used to be a welcome visitor, 



but when the seemed to be getting 



too full, I grew weary of it. I bucked. Re- 

 cently I took up a copy cautiously, saw there 

 had been a change ; bought it, and am glad 

 that a different kind of "pen" will be its 

 work — the one that is mightier than the 

 sword. Success to you. 



I enjoyed the article in the April issue, 

 "Camps and Campers," and I think such 

 articles of practical hints and information 

 are very much appreciated by readers. In 

 fact, when I am buying magazines, I simply 

 glance at the title-page, and if there is no 

 article of practical help, I pass it. I am in- 

 terested in many things, and get a large 

 number of magazines every month, besides 

 the dozen or so that I subscribe for. 



Rev. Merlin A. Hainer, 

 Pastor First Christian Church, 

 Newton, N. H. 



