No. 453-] NOTES AND LITERATURE. 



A Hermit's Wild Friends.^— The first impulse of a reviewer on 

 reading this book is to rage and to utter vain things. There is 

 something peculiarly irritating in the cock-sureness and the conde- 

 scension of ignorance ; there mingles, no doubt, with our zeal for the 

 defense of truth a little of the wrath of the orthodox prophet against 

 him who would lead the people after false gods and therefore after a 

 false prophet. If it were only a question of the scientific world, it 

 would be hardly necessary to pay any attention to the book, but 

 the reviews quoted by the publishers show how easily the general 

 press are mislead. The Hermit is hailed as a second Thoreau, or 

 put before Thoreau, since he "spares us Thoreau's philosophy." 

 One reviewer admits that there is much "out-of-the-way information," 

 but is convinced that it all bears "the stamp of truth." Another 

 reviewer assures us gravely that the book never goes "beyond the 

 observed facts." It is rather against an unscrupulous publisher and 

 irresponsible reviewers that our wrath should be directed ; the Her- 

 mit's sins are those of ignorance' and vanity; the publisher's are 

 those of greed. 



The book purports to give true and detailed records of intimacies 

 with wild animals of the Gloucester woods, where the author has 

 lived for years. He has numbered among his intimates, song 

 sparrows, chewinks and chickadees, squirrels, mice and crows. It 

 will only be necessary to give an extract taken almost at random to 

 show the character of the book. The " Hermit" has found (p. 187) 

 a crippled sparrow and has been feeding him in his camp m the 

 woods. "The fourth day, while I was feeding him, an old chewink 

 hopped to the loaf of bread [always put out for the birds], and 

 called him. The sparrow did not respond at first, but after awhile 

 hopped over to see what the chewink wanted. He seemed surprised 

 to find the bread, and began at once to help himself. The chewink 

 called him into the bushes. / suppose he intended to give him an 

 introduction to his family. The next day the sparrow came into 

 the dooryard alone. He made for the bread and did not look at 

 me. I tried to catch him, but he hopped into the bushes, apparently 

 filled with terror. I think that old chewink had told the sparrow 

 that I was a very bad man. The old fellow might have been jealous, 

 ■ and had frightened the young sparrow, so that he would fly from me 

 in wild alarm. The next time the sparrow visited the yard the 



[1903]. pp. i-^3oZ'^' ^''''"'^ ' ^'^'^ ^''''"'^ 



