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THE CRISIS OF SURVIVAL: 
The Famine of Resources; Nuclear War; Over-Population; Pollution. 
By the Editors of The Progressive. 1970. 261 pages. $6.95. 
William Morrow & Co., 105 Madison Ave., New York 10016. 
n April 1970, the editors of the Progressive Magazine (Madison, Wis.) 
uublished a special issue devoted to problems of the environment. This 
rolume contains many of the articles, plus several added contributions. 
Much has been written about the effects of pollution and population upon 
he survival of wildlife. Too little has been said about these problems on 
he very young. U.N. Secretary U Thant has pointed out, “There are more 
ick, undernourished, and un-educated children in the world now than 
here were ten years ago, and the next ten years will find the number of 
ieglected children increased ky millions unless the international com- 
nunity undrtakes a massive effort to prevent it.” 
Among the contributors to the volume are: John Lindsay, Mayor of 
Yew York; Hugh Iltis of the University of Wisconsin; Dr. George Wald 
f the biology department of Harvard University; Ralph Nader, the ccn- 
umer’s advocate; Dr. Paul Ehrlich, author of “The Population Bomb,” 
nd Denis Hayes of Environmental Action. All the articles are full of 
acts and vitality. It is a good source book for community and conserva- 
ion leaders. —Raymond Mostek 
The LURE of the POND by Wallace Kirkland. 
Henry Regnery Company, Chicago. 1969. Illustrated, 6 full-page 
pen and ink drawings by Eugene Karlin. 151 pages. $5.95 
Zecause the author has a name well known in Audubon circles, I was 
ttracted to this book. I came to it therefore out of curiosity; I remained 
vith it in fascination. 
It is a book of only 150 or so pages with barely 100 of solid reading 
aatter. One could read it in one evening and finish in time for the ten 
‘clock news. But why gulp it down all in one piece? A book of this 
ort should be enjoyed like a scenic road, by slow driving, taken in easy 
tages, with frequent stops to absorb the beauty and to contemplate its 
1eaning. 
The book is based on a summer the author spent in a shack on the 
hore of a Wisconsin lake, but obviously his first-hand observations were 
upplemented by much reading of science and no small amount of research. 
t is a natural history of this mini-area, a small glacial pond and its environs. 
What makes it extraordinary is the way the author communicates with 
qe reader. He writes with rare imagery, sometimes spilling over into poesy 
vith the frequent spice of droll humor. One reads a chapter or two, plea- 
antly entertained all the way, then suddenly realizes that effortlessly he 
as acquired a great deal of natural history information. 
Many of the short chapters are treasures, detailed life histories of often 
2en but little understood neighbors in our ecology ... bees, for instance. 
i00ks have been written about the honey bee, one even by the European 
terary giant, Maurice Maeterlinck. But who except dull scientists have 
ver written about its relation, the busy beautiful bumblebee? Wallace 
irkland has, with scientific accuracy and entrancing interest. (Yes, he 
Iso has an absorbing chapter on honey bees.) 
An example of his imaginative interludes is this about great blue 
