The morning call., 1892-03-06
BY THE WAY.
Being a Rambler's Observations
on Things in General.

4
cisco is very cosmopolitan city. If by this
Is meant very mixed population. it is cos.
mopoltan In remarkable degree, but
every large city In the United States has
approximately the same character, and New
| York. for instance. has less proyincalism.
| San Francisco is happily very tolerant, and
| Is not straight-laced in the matter of Sun
| day observance. People do Just as they
please on the first day of the week. The
churches flourish without the assistance of
large fiocks of absentees, and the absentees
are not the less considered reputable be-
cause they go rambling, duck shooting or
fishing, and travel far nfieId for their recre-
alton. The restaurants are open, many
places OF business are open, the various IA
clliiies for travel are only changed in the
sense Of being augmented. and theaters,
concert halls. and places Of amusement are
thrOnged according to the merits of the at
fractions. Purltanism has no hold upon
this community Much, 10 fact Is done.
harmless that would bring down upon the
offenders the wrath and the vengeance of
old-fashioned Puritauical places. Long ago
the too pious could even burn at the stake
Tor trivial causes.
A good story is told of DR.. Geikie, this
years President of the British Association
for the Promotion Of Science. He is geol-
ogist OF very earnest temperament, and not
averse to picking up fossils and going in
quest OF them on the Sabbath. 1t was his
misfortune to be in part of Scotland where
Free Kirk ministers are the intellectual
fount for aseetic and bigoted followers,
some OF whom, however, are occasionally
found out In caTnality and drunken splores.
greatly to the ediication of worldly and
ungodly critics. One Sunday DR.. Geikie
was at work with his hammer In a quarry,
little dreaming that scientific pursuits could
scandaliZe neighbOrhOod. Presently he
heard solemn voice ablurne him. This is
no the day to be engaged In sic wark!' and
looking up he saw on the brow of the quarry
Free Xix minister peering down upon
him angrily. GO to - emphatically
said DIR. Geikie. and lie resumed his ham
mering. 1t would be vain to hope that this
was lesson TO the zealOt. He would Doubt
less offer MP petitions for the misguided de-
voice OF science, that he might be found,
like himself. among the elect.
The excursions of tie local society of
botanists frequently take place on Sundays,
and very pleasant they are. A better way
OF getting to know a country could not be
devised. unless geology were combined with
botany--one, in short. coming to the assist
ance Of tie other. The eye Is trained to
observe the habitat in which plants grow,
and then the mind is expanded aiterward
by the subSeaue Mt classification and by ex-
amlnati0ns under tie microscope There
are lectures also on the following day
descriptive OF the leading features of the
JOINT collection gathered by the members
The agony of botany lies in the recollection
and possibly pronunciation Of the fearfully
and wonderfully compounded Greek terms
with which each plant is baptized. Most of
them have common Anglo-Saxon names
romantic or fancifu!, and sometimes appro-
hHf ind trff 70 he
ness. The true botanist scofns common
appeilatioDs, and rolls ont the rotund Greek
nomenclature with conscious prize, and
meantr mortals standing by might almost
Imagine that the plants Jingle with delight
at having been so felicitOusly christened
Students blessed with a poor memory and
an Unsuitable thirst for knowledge have,
however, poor time OF it. They miss
nothing In the way of plueking, and they
endeavor to miss nothing that asking can
procure them. Happy the botsnist who is
able to bestow name upon some new
species or variety. His own name may
then 60 down to learned posteriiy, swathed
In cocoon OF Attic der walton.
The famous line, They didn't know
everything down in Judee," is much truer
of botany than OF anything else. The
ancients Of every nation and country were
absolutely ignorant OF tile existence of the
sexual relationship in plant life. They had
very distinct evidence of it in the date palm,
but they merely observed the conditions
necessary to propagation and did not extend
their generalization further. 1t was not
until last century that mankind awoke to
the fact that plants go into counting and
housekeeping, and now we know that some
of them are fond of butcher-meat aud even
indulge In locomotion. Thus is all nature
Kin, and we are as far off solution Of the
wherefore as ever. Not only that. but most
OF the ancienis and even the moderns until
long after Dante's time appear TO have had
an adherence of naiuce as such, and TO have
much preferred TO think about man and his
own little kingdom. The Highlands of
Scotland were regarded with horror by
Lowlanders before Sir Walter Scotts
poetry and novels cast the glamor of imagi-
nation and romance over them. Swift erland
was regarded with dread until this cen tury,
ana our own country became beau titled
with new light when Cooper's novels fred
the Imagination and anthropomorph lied
with ideal conceptions the woods, the
mountains. streams, lakes and forests. The
effect OF this education is seen in the adver-
Using exploits of the railway companies,
They positively display photographs of
the most dangerous portions Of their
route as attractions. Now it is deep can
yon, with roaring river at the bottom Of fell
preclplces; anon 1t IS serpentine winding
round high mountain aud not a hut in
sight to suggest civilization. Much OF the
admiration so freely given expression 10 in
EXPLANATIONS is no doubt a feeble imitation
OF what others have felt anu written about
In short much of it is insincere, and may
always be suspected when given utierance
to amid the comforts of a drawing-room
when she said: "Quant aux beauties de la
nature. ]e les abhor! A good deal that is
romantic has been written about the sea.
but 1t does not mlslead people who are apt
to be seasIck. They are honest in their de-
testation of waves and the pitch and tar
smells of vessels Everybody, however.
joins in praise of the glory Of the skies as
seen In nature and rarely in painting. The
skies are inoffensive, except when it thun-
ders or raiDs too much fer ladies and
farmers.
Every one to his taste, and the gunner to
his. To kill something is an inherent pro-
pensity characteristic of mans divinity.
Children pick the wings off flies; boys
stone frogs. pet cats and tie tin cans to
dogs tails, all of which amusements are
Gale uIated to develop a healthy mind in
sound body. If he has nothing else for his
proves, the gunner finds entertainment in
peppering an UPSTREAM or fence. But he
is much better employed when he brings
down game, Of which there is such album
dance every where in California for then lie
is adding to the food supply, and probably
teal quail or rabbit are more toothsome
when bagged by himself. Even deer may
be secured within no great distance of San
Francisco. There are still a few on the
TANKS Of Tamalpais. Wild venison is not.
however, OF much account as diet, and a
hunter who has TO carry buck down a
mountain side is prone to grumble at his
success. Nearly all the good eatables in
flesh come from domesticated sources. turtle
and fish excepted.
San Franciscans are we'll supplied wi tn
turtle. and probably do not sufficiently APP
preciate their good fortune. Soup from
this peiagic reptile is common. and a steak