Palisadian., 1925-12-04
BACK TO NATURE AGAIN

The Palisadian regrets that little
article recently printed in these col
umns on Back to Nature" should
have disturbed Grantwood contribu-
tor, who takes issue on the subject
in a rather heated manner. He asks
il the editor pretends "to contest the
findings of medical science in regard
to the value of the suns direct rays
ON the human body" Not at all.
Whatever medical science advocates,
however, is not always true or even
dependable This statement has no
relation to sun baths, for The world
needs more of them. The article IN
question really had reference to the
practice of "fadism' in practicing the
back to nature thought. Nine-tenths
of those who have tried out this thing
of going bareheaded in winter and
summer, wearing "B. V. ID. under
wear in the dead of winter, do not
have the slightest idea of why they
do It, except that they are willing to
suffer any torture to prove that tney
are hardy" The boy and girl VINO
lcosed themselves in the Maine for
ests and fed themselves on nuts and
berries. and clothed themselves in
leaves and branches were most re-
gretful pair before their term OF SUI
ference by agreement had expired.
II is arrant nonsense for man with
all of his enlightenment to think OF
the "back to nature" idea as either
cure all or an improvement upon what
common sense alone should dictate.
climatic conditions alone might war
rant the no-clothes fad. The African
in the jungle. can go without raiment
and does. But even his experience
has taught him how to protect him.
self against insects. The Esquiman
Indians would cut sorry figure going
without clothes at the flftieth parallel
Our correspondents allusion to
the murders of the jungle" and his
asking If the Bowery is not much
safer is irrelevant. The bowery mas
been of evil record, but even that To-
cality is much improved under en-
lightened treatment. There are many
worse sections of New York. In the
Jungle crime is not so much custom
as it is the habit of ignorance. Where
a people have no intellectual COM
mass to guide them, what does the
taking of life mean? Crime ana
back to nature had no possible as
sociation with what was written on
this subject. Our correspondent ana
critic will not find the editor taking
issue on the fact that Nature mas
much to teach us. Come and see him
and talk with him. He is Mature
man. a disciple of John Burroughs,
God bless him and all others, includ-
ing Rousseau, who pinned their falth
TO the beauties and the morals OF
Nature, rather than to any imitation
or invasion of the tenets or its falths.
Nature is Gods own and our pest
teacher. And one of the impossloies
of man is to initiate Nature with the
hope of improving upon it. 1t is not
Mature for civilized man to live, or
to try to live, except within the lines
of common sense as developed
through the inspiration of Nature ana
going naked in the woods is one OF
the damphoal things of the Nature
cult
And our critics reference to Shakes
peare being credit" TO us, then
wondering whether his descendants
whose loved ones were scattered by
bombs from airplanes. would agree
that those manifestations OF ciyiliza-
tion are among the blessings has
nothing whatever to do with the sub
ject. Scoring the simplicities that |
make for healthier lives" is the last
thing this writer would think OF. Up
to-date the cruelties of man have been |
in existence since the beginning OF
time. and the simplicities have been
practised by all sensible people. The
neb behind the article on Back to.
Nature" was that the most OF It is
nonsensical because it is foolish, and
ii is foolish because it is an effort to
place mankind in an element TO which
he does not belong