The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-06-19

first. but they are sll marvellous; yet
their brains and nervous machinery
are not like ours at all; they are not
yertebrates.
The Conci,ronci.
This particularly unpleasant creature
inverts our aystenl OF the vertebrate
precisely. gets all his thoughts and
sensations from his. stomach, like
gourmond.. Is called highly intelli-
gent BY NJ. Fabre Their gray matter
Is Of higher quality and force than
muscles Of insects SCI can be judged by the
flea. which hops 200 times it's own
height One kind Of beetle can sus-
its own weight We would not need
flying. machines at ALL II we were
comparatively. as we'll equipped: or
elevators or ladders, or ropes. or any
you ever say or think again only
wasp; only a beetle only an ant
No. we will say, Who is that scorpion
courting?' or the contrary and look
about for the lady, or II must help
that lovely scarab to get back the din
ner her treacherous servant stole, or
excuse me. but want to go and see
some insects milk their cows. What
world we live in And how little We
know of IL! We. like all living
affairs to do much else than attend
to them NJ. Fabre and his studies
and his photos put US very deeply In
his debt.
SnowflnlSes.
But for exquisite beauty and Matte
matical. geomctrlcal perfection, moth
Ing has been found for ages as beauti-
ful and wonderful as the snownakes
that a Vermont scientist has photo
graphed, enormously magniiied. each
different from the other, each as deli
cste as point lace, each as exact as
problem in Euclid, an living only.
moment as 1t were. all as lovely as the
heavens from which they came, though
so much less enduring. OF all our
dear Creators handiwork, though. we
are the most marvellous and the most
noble, because made In His image and
set only "a little lower than the an
gels Instead of gorging our children
with unwholesome sweets and supply
ing them with heaps of expensive me-
chanical toys. and giving them so many
'.amusements" of doubtful value to
body or mind. heart or soul, is it not
time for us to give them their own fine
microscopes and let them have their
own moving pictures, their own look at
the heavens and the earth and the
to have anuariums, herbariums, geo.
logical collections, collections Of all
kinds. birds nests and eggs sea shells
and weeds stalactites and stalasmites
them. and a. great education in many.
many ways. We are far behind Euro
peans In our love and knowledge. of
nature, and we can. should, remedy It,.
Half Of our. children ,neyer. give such
interests a thought. More than half OF
them being taken into the country
from one. of our large cities. cannot
tell an oak from an elm. or wheat from
tobacco. IT is strange that we, occu-
pying young {oldl. fresh. virgin
country full of marvels and miracles,
are for the most part utterly ignorant
of and utterly Indifferent to nature
and all her wonderful patient. wise,
amazing processes OF termination, de-
velopment. completion. We are the
most artificial people in the world. for
all we are the Youngest born of the
great nations. and ought to be the
most elementally cultured. We do not
seem. in ideals as to education and
amusements. to be able to rise above
the average school (sans home read
ings and Supplementary explanation,
the soda fountain In lieu of the Plerlan
spring, the pavements instead of the
shady groves. bride paths and forests
of our richly lowered country, cheap
matinees and endless moving picture
shows instead of the glories OF earth,
sky and sea. to the elliSently-tr trained
eye and ear. 1t is thousand pities.
isn't 1t?
The Tablet.
are Just so many wax tablets The
great impressions, the Jesuits say. and
Francis Cation, in his able Hereditary
Traits" SAYS so. too, are all made by
the time child Is seven-for life.
Now, what kind OF images, what char
and shadows, what poisons and per-
fumes. what order and discipline. what
beauty and ugliness, what Justice. kind
ness tenderness, are we writing there