into the exhibit from the spot where they needs must give way to the 
progress of civiHzation. 
Those people who, hke history, should make the acquaintance of 
the grotesque Httle Trilobites, tiny beasties that were old before the 
first ape-men had begun to play tag in the tree-tops. And they flour- 
ished right here in the Chicago region in tremendous numbers and 
then slept peacefully for three hundred million years or more imtil we 
dug our drainage canal straight through their cemetery. There are also 
in the same case fossils and ferns that grew in even a more remote age 
and these also were gathered within a fifty-mile radius of the City Hall. 
Mosses and lichens, not pressed and pasted up in a dry herbarium 
but green and gray and scarlet-tipped as they grow in the forest, 
form a flower bed in the middle of the balcony. 
For those who really want to study a remarkably interesting group 
of land and fresh- water snail shells, both bi- valves and uni-valves, 
offer an opportunity. Likewise the beautifully mounted specimens 
of the trees of the Chicago region in flower, leaf, and fruit. There are 
eighty mounts of this exhibit, of which, unfortunately, not all could 
be shown. 
Beginning January ist, a real revival meeting for nature worshipers 
will be held every afternoon at four o'clock except Saturday — Child- 
ren's Day — when the hour wiU be three. There wiU be lectures on 
butterflies, on "trees in winter form," on ferns, on "milk- weed and 
their insect guests," and "the home life of our familiar birds," and on 
many other subjects, all illustrated with slides. And there will be 
three moving picture films on nature study subjects. 
As the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a 
distinguished body modeled on the famous British Association fines, 
convened in Chicago this year, a reception was tendered to the mem- 
bers of the botany and biology sections, in the exhibition room on 
December 28th. The attendance was large and very enthusiastic. 
AU of the Garden Clubs and societies of nature lovers have been 
invited to participate by holding open meetings in the exhibition 
rooms and by acting as host for one day during the exhibition. Their 
response was most gratifying and the calendar of hosts and hostesses 
that is posted on the bulletin board is a real "who's who" among 
Chicago nature lovers. 
Finally the artistic installation of the exhibits which was handled 
by the Art Institute, is a revelation as to what harmony and beauty 
can be achieved with such material too often shown in quite too dry 
and pedantic a way to rouse the interest of the uninitiated. It is, 
however, a matter of general regret that a good half of some of the 
most instructive exhibits had to be suppressed for lack of wall space. 
However, where the interest is keen the space will be found and we 
look hopefully to the exhibits of the future to solve this difficulty. 
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