Scoutmasters who are embarrassed when eager beavers run up and ask “What kind of a bug is this?” or “What flower is that?” will welcome two new books, both published by Doubleday and Company, Garden City, New York.
The Insect Guide by Dr. Ralph B. Swain, a former Scout, is a very-easy-to-use book. Instead of describing the individual species, Dr. Swain tells how to recognize the larger, more easily remembered insect families and orders. Four hundred and fifty illustrations—330 in full color, make the job of question-answering that much easier. Equally interesting is the material on how to find, capture, observe and preserve different insects. As a hike or camp activity, insect observation can be good program material, if you know how to do it. This pocket guide supplies the answers.
Also recommended for the Troop library is Wild Flower Guide, by Dr. Edgar T. Wherry. Actual use with Scouts has proved this to be an easy-to-follow guide. For example: if you find a flower and wonder what it is, refer to the appendix, where flowers are classified according to color. Run down the list and eliminate those which you know the flower isn’t. Then look for possibilities of what it might be. The illustrations, many in color, make the job easier. The description of each flower is complete.
GIVE DADS A CHANCE
Photo by Carl W. Eysenbach
Lakewood, Ohio
When Mr. West called his Committee at ten o’clock on a Saturday night to pose for a picture at noon on Sunday, he found that six men were out of town. The other nineteen are shown here. That’s a good example of the Committee cooperation Mr. West describes in this article.
By Gerry West
Scoutmaster, Troop 78