THE GUIDE TO NATURE 
58 
Real vs. Trash Reading. 
15Y THEODORE H. COOPER, BATAVIA, N. Y. 
It is surprising to the naturalist to 
see the books and magazines that are 
on sale at the average bookstore and 
that are read by those who are pre- 
sumed to be out of infancy. As Thoreau 
said, “Why do they read their A, B, C’s 
all their life?" Erotn the “Turrubul 
Sam” and the eternal triangles of the 
“moovis” they turn to the latest novel 
on the same subject. 
An extraordinary tree or some other 
curiosity may find its way to the 
papers. It is exploited for its value as 
a curiosity though and not as an object 
of nature. For “natural nature” the 
average person cares very little. I have 
tried to interest some of them and I can 
echo the editor of one of our western 
magazines when he observes, “They 
don’t care a hang about it and never 
will.” 
What a relief it is to turn from the 
contorted, spectacular nature that rep- 
resents the scientific feature of most of 
our magazines to the simplicity and 
naturalness of The Guide to Nature. 
The common, near at hand things that 
we can all see are shown in this maga- 
zine, and those are the things worth 
knowing about. 
Arcturus is more interesting to me 
than Canopus because I can see it. A 
crow is more interesting than a condor 
because we have seen it and heard it 
caw. Things are of interest in propor- 
tion to how much we know about them. 
The best way to make ordinary things 
of interest is to read about them. 
The Guide to Nature furnishes such 
reading. It was only by the accidental 
finding of a copy of “The Ob- 
server” that I came to know of this de- 
lightful little magazine, for since the 
average man in the street would not 
find anything of interest in it the book- 
stores do not have it. 
The fruit of Ulota phyllantha, a rare 
moss, was long unknown, and until it 
was found by Thomas Howell in Ore- 
gon in 1885 had not been described. 
While working atKewin “a sharp- 
eyed American lady (Airs. Britton of 
Columbia College) found five capsules 
on the specimens collected by Schim- 
per himself at Killarney, Ireland, but 
which had not been noticed.” — (Braith- 
waite British Mosses, Vol. 2, p. 97. 
1889.) 
A Rope of Dust. 
BY CHARLES D. ROMIG, AUDENRIED, PENN. 
On an automobile trip one summer 
day my attention was called to a whirl- 
wind about a block ahead of us on the 
edge of a village. The roads were 
dusty and the wind had caught the dust 
up so that it looked exactly like a rope 
hanging from the sky. 
No doubt this was a young tornado, 
too young to do any harm. This rope 
of dust was about as thick as a garden 
hose and for a brief period appeared 
to be truly vertical. The length must 
have been more than two hundred feet. 
The Mountain Top. 
A delectable mountain top it is, 
Breezy, cool and sweet, 
Where moss and potentilla make 
A carpet for our feet. 
Where lady spruces trail their robes 
Over ledges bare. 
And garlands wreathe of clustered cones 
In their fragrant hair. 
Where little birches straggle up, 
The evergreens among, 
And worthy, withe-rod’s blushing fruit, 
To be of poets sung. 
Where there is spread before our eyes 
A panorama rare, 
Of hill and dale, of wood and field, 
With homesteads nestled there. 
A silver river winding down, 
To merge into the sea, 
With islands dotting all the bay 
As far as we can see. 
A lake embosomed in the hills, 
A perfect mirror there, 
Reflecting wooded shores and farms, 
And all its framework fair. 
With distant mountains looming up, 
Into the ether blue, 
To ho'd our beauty-seeking eyes, 
While limiting the view. 
A wonder mountain top indeed, 
Its magic half untold, 
But making us, with every climb, 
Richer a hundred fold. 
— Emma Peirce. 
Professor Frank G. Speck, of the 
University of Pennsylvania, has had 
published by that university an inter- 
esting monograph on the “Bird-lore of 
the Northern Indians.” The pamphlet 
contains much of popular interest and 
is adapted to the general reader as well 
as to the professional ornithologist. 
