The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-03-22
THE CHILDREN'S ROOM.
COsey 0Ur1- F of Smithsonian Institute in Washington Set Aside for the Lit- tie Ones.

: 1 COsey O0r- 1T of Smithsonian Institute in Washington Set Aside for the Lit, tie Ones.
 The Children's Room"
 This sign over the door in the l Smithsonian Institute seems to bright . en the somber interior like an unexpect- l ed sunbeam. s. P. Langley, secretary of the institution, had it placed there He knew that the exhibits of the in . stitution, while of rare interest to l scientific minds, were utterly beyond . 1 the comprehension of a child, so he set apart one little spot and filled 1t with 1 curious and pretty specimens that boys and girls could understand and on- . joy.
 He selected sunny room facing the entrance, so that the first glimpse a visitor gets is of an open door, swing ing, bird cages an aquarium In the middle of the floor. On closer inspec- tion there are dainty colored walls hung with water colors depicting bird
 and animal life, and beneath is ar- ranged a carefully selected exhibit on shelves placed low enough for the
 tiniest child to see. In summer the windows look look out on acres of tree shaded greenery, and in winter the
 frescoed vines on the ceiling, with the singing birds and darting fish, give to the little room the charm of sum-
 mer, no matter how cheerless the day.
 MT Langley's idea was that the room must be cosey, with plenty of
 light and pretty things, and that every
 specimen must be of character to , catch the wondering fancy of child If instruction is imbibed, so much the
 better, but his chief aim was simply
 to amuse and interest little visitors
 knowing that amusement and interest
 are the seeds of II want to know"
 There are four cages of gay feathered
 birds and two aquariums. The finny
 families are as varied in color as a
 rainbow, and through the rustic grot-
 tos, and sea ferns wriggle gold and sil-
 yer fish together with gray green
 lizards, baby turtles that paddle lazily
 on the pebbly bottoms, and nervous
 small crabs, whose restless claws are
 in motion every minute of the day.
 In a case marked Pretty Shells" there are snowy conches with lips as pink as a rose, spiral specimens that carry on their surface the glimmer of the sea they come from, brown speekled shells that will sing you the song of the ocean if you hold them to your ear-and many pretty varieties that child might gather on the shore in it's summer vacation.
 In another case are queer tropical butterflies as large as birds, and but
 terfiies, again, blue, green and yellow, like the ones that filter across the l Maryland fields. In with these pretty creatures is big pale blue worm, al- most as wonderful as that purple cow
 A card tells you that this is a specimen of the horned degfi'' that develops into large creamy winged thing known to science as a royal walnut moth"
 Nearby are clumsy. beetles and sober looking ants and bees Then there are the poisonous Insects big, ugly spiders and browha furry tarantula. whose wicked bodyfdeals out death. with every sting. &fTs
 Birds of rare and beautiful plumage have another case, with eggs of every size and hue. The great. condor of the Andes, with a strut and red wattles, look at you with terrifying glass eyes, and bisedes him is tiny sparrow lhawk, the largest and smallest birds of prey. Some of the birds are towering over their nests to pT6tect them from snakes and other enemies, and others are sitting on nests so like irt color to the tree branches on which they are built that cruel boy in search of eggs who tried to find them would have to have sharp eyes indeed. These bids, with insects and small animals, are mounted to show their habits in life, and the collection is labelled. How Creatures Hide"
 Before this case were three little girls day or two ago evidently fre- quent visitors who were showing fourth the wonders within. The strange little girl was looking intently at a bit of pebbly seashore strewn with sticks and weeds The others watched her puzzled expression chang ed to laughing triumph and she clasp ed her hands. She had found on the shore birds nest made of the sticks and weeds and full of eggs, the exact | color of the pebbles. Then there was another hunt for leaf insects, but here | the strange little girl had to give 1t up" l and have them pointed out-so alike | were the creatures, both in shape and | color to the foliage to which they were | attached. Other specimens that in- | terested the little party were models | of the largest nugget ever mined and | the very biggest diamond ever cut, the stone that bend with its weight" and | the lump of asbestos which caused the strange little girl to exclaini:
 Now 1 can tell mamma why the as- bestos stove lid won't burn! I thought l it was cotton because it's white, but you see, it's mineral-and minerals won't burn.-Washington Star.