find our colored friend, the crow, breasting his way north. Fearless as the pirates of old, he spreads his black sails and steers steadily for the land of corn fields and newly ploughed land. On many a windy day you will see him tacking stoutly against a head wind or scudding with rumpled feathers before a gusty southern breeze. Our winter residents and visitors become more common during March and an occasional arctic bird in its restless spring wanderings finds its way into the Adirondacks. The martial drum-calls of the woodpeckers herald the hosts of the real spring migrants. Watch for the Song Sparrow, the Robin, the Field Sparrow, the Fox Sparrow, the Black Birds, the Purple Finch, the Phoebe and, if the weather is mild, several other species. Now is the time to buy a field book and a Trudeau Bird Club bird-list and begin to learn about the birds of the region so that you will be ready for the identification of the spring migrants. A SIMPLE WAY OF OBSERVING For weeks the newspapers have published both sensational and technical articles about sun spots. The various theories of sun spots have been rehearsed, from the old one that the sun spot forewarns terrestrial disaster and bloody wars to the latest one which attributes the sun spot to an explosion or vortical storm in the photosphere of the sun, throwing great masses of it outward to become cool and therefore compartively dark. With this interesting phenomena before you day after day and these pretty theories to account for them, would it not be interesting to see a sun spot with your own eyes? Anyone who has a good pair of opera or field glasses, a blanket or two, a sheet of white paper and a sunlit room may observe the enormous sun spots now disturbing the sun's surface. Darken the room by hanging the blankets over the windows by means of tacks in the top of the casings. Raise one window, put your glasses, previously wrapped about the barrels with a cloth to shut out all sunlight except that passing through the lens, under the edge of the blanket and point them toward the sun as if you were to look at the sun through them; but on no account should you look through them if you do not wish to lose an eye. Instead, hold a piece of white paper before the eye piece of the glass. When the glasses have been properly pointed a bright spot will appear on the paper in front of each eye piece. Now hold the glasses steady and move the paper farther away until the bright spot becomes a disc as large as a watch face. The glasses can now be focused in the usual way until the edge of this light disc appears clear, and any spot on the sun's surface becomes well defined. By observing these spots on successive days and making a rough sketch of the position of the spots some idea of the rate and direction of the sun's rotation can be obtained. If you are fortunate enough to have a rather strong glass you may be able to observe the spot when it reaches the horizon or edge of the disc. "The Strenuous Life." O mother, take the wheel away, And I cannot spin to-night. -OLD SONG. Yes, mother, take the darned old thing, It savors of the "hearth" and "home," And the "outdoor life" for me- I cannot rest in my pink boudoir, When the North Wind comes a wooing me, My Paris hats, ma, fling away My powder take from me; O take away my Worth gowns, ma, And cover me up with the skins of beasts, And I'll wander forth 'neath the starry skies. And list to the "call of the wild." The eight annual report of the trustees of the Massachusetts State Sanatorium at Rutland has just been issued. During the year 1,754 applicants were examined, of whom 817, or 46 per cent., were considered favorable for admission; 639, or 36 per cent., unfavorable, and 298, or 17 per cent., doubtful. A certain number of these doubtful cases, after subsequent examinations, were favorably considered and admitted. The whole number of patients discharged during the year was 696, but 120 remained only about a month and their cases are not considered in the report, leaving 576 to be considered. The average length of stay was 5 1-2 months and 544 of the 576 patients gained weight, the average gain being 13 1-2 pounds. Of the incipient cases, 75.8 per cent. had their disease "arrested" or were "apparently cured," a larger per centage than in any other year since the establishment of the sanatorium. Forty-eight patients whose disease had been diagnosed as "moderately advanced" and twelve in the "advanced" class, were discharged as "arrested" or "apparently cured." Those discharged as "improved," including all shades of improvement, numbered 275-incipient, 53; moderately advanced, 104; advanced, 118. The capacity of the sanatorium has been twice increased by acts of the legislature. In 1899 the capacity was 175 beds. During the last year it has been 260. New brick buildings provided for will bring the capacity up to nearly 400 beds. It was found necessary, in order to fill the 260 beds available during the last year, to admit a larger proportion of advanced cases than before. The total current expenses for the year were $125,124.90. Dividing this amount by the daily average number of patients, 257, gives an average annual cost of $486.86, equivalent to an average weekly cost of $9.36. Deducting from the total current expenses, the cash receipts from patients, $45,752.45, gives $79,372.45, the total current expense to the Commonwealth, which is equivalent to an average weekly cost of $5.93. JOURNAL OF THE OUTDOOR LIFE PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT ADIRONDACK COTTAGE SANITARIUM TRUDEAU P. O., N. Y. BY THE JOURNAL OF THE OUTDOOR LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY. Application made under the new name, Journal of the Outdoor Life, for entry as second-class mail matter at the Trudeau Postoffice, N. Y. The Aim of this Journal is to be helpful to persons seeking health by an outdoor life, and particularly to disseminate reliable information looking to the prevention and cure of tuberculosis. Subscription Price $1 a year, in advance; foreign postage 25 cents extra; single copies 10 cents, Advertisements accepted only from reliable firms, Fraudulent and misleading advertisements barred. Advertising rate card sent upon request. Change of Address.-Subscribers should notify us promptly of any change in their address. Always give the old as well as new address and your name in full. Contributed Articles of any length up to 2,000 words are always welcome, Write on one side of the paper only. Expired Subscriptions.-If you find a blue pencil mark here it means that your subscription expires with this number. Please renew promptly and thereby make sure of not missing a number. In renewing a subscription please say that it is a renewal. Copyright. The articles in the JOURNAL OF THE OUTDOOR LIFE are protected by copyright, but editors are given permission to republish selections on condition that credit be given to JOURNAL OF THE OUTDOOR LIFE Saranac Lake, N. Y. AN OUTDOOR LIFE CHART. Most of us want to be out-of-doors but few of us have any accurate idea how much we have been out-of-doors during the last month. Some of us want to be indoors and a few of us have a fairly accurate idea of how little we are out-of-doors. All of us, however, who have tried it know how much better we feel when we have spent a considerable number of hours out-of-doors. The chart on the next page will help many of us, (who should) to be faithful to the out-of-door life, the "cure" as some call it. To some this chart will suggest disagreeable "heart-to-heart" talks with their physicians. It is easy to pass over the question in conversation of how long you were out, but it is a difficult matter to avoid it in black and white. Such persons will obtain the greatest benefit from the chart. The chart is arranged to cover a period of thirty-one days, one month. The days of the month are at the top, and along the left hand side are the number of hours in a day. To keep the chart a dot is placed each evening opposite the number which corresponds to the number of hours spent out-of-doors. The dots are joined by ruled lines and will show graphically how much you are in the open air. Some may question if anyone is out twenty-four hours but it is easily seen that such is the case when you live in a lean-to or in a rough camp. At the bottom of the chart are two columns, one for recording the weekly weight and one for a brief note about the weather if anyone desires to jot it down. Places for the name, locality, month and year are left at the top of the chart. It is the purpose of the Journal of The Outdoor Life to place these charts on sale. Six in an envelope will be sent to any address on receipt of twenty-five cents. Anyone wishing them in larger quantities may obtain special prices. WHY NOT HAVE A PERMANENT TUBERCULOSIS EXHIBIT? Sanitarians everywhere are endeavoring, and with gratifying results, to check the spread of tuberculosis. It is recognized that ignorance is largely responsible for the terrible mortality from this disease and in many states an educational campaign has been begun. Lectures are given and circulars, telling the consumptives what to do and what not to do, are scattered broadcast. As yet, however, we have in this country no tuberculosis museums such as have been established abroad, notably in Germany, with exhibits designed to enlighten the layman in regard to the devastating plague and to give him a precise idea of the infectious nature of the disease. Such a museum, or better, a chain of them throughout the country, would undoubtedly prove valuable in the campaign that is now being waged. The tuberculous patient often lessens his own chances of recovery by failure to observe simple precautions, and this failure also endangers the health and life of others. Many persons who would gladly carry out the necessary precautions do not know of the danger and methods of combating it. Happily there are very few who deliberately and criminally disregard all measures involving trouble on their part. These deserve to be dealt with severely. Where printed warnings or instructions often go unheeded, museums of tuberculosis might serve as popular object lessons the and means of enlightening masses. With a correct understanding of the nature and purpose of preventive measures, such (Continued on Page 38) OUTDOOR LIFE No... Name Hours Outdoors Days of month. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 These Charts for sale by JOURNAL OF THE OUTDOOR LIFE, Saranac Lake, N. Y., Six for 25 cents. For Explanation of this Chart See Opposite Page. 3 as could be obtained in a museum of tuberculosis, the people would be in a much better position to co-operate with those sanitarians who are endeavoring to stamp out the di sease. That museums of tuberculosis would prove popular was shown by the great public interest taken in the temporary tuberculosis exhibit in Baltimore, in January, 1904; and the more recent one in Boston. The cost of establishing permanent museums in large cities would be insignificant considering the good they could do. SOME FALLACIES ABOUT HEALTH RESORTS. It is no infrequent thing for physicians at health resorts to get letters with passages in them such as this: "The man has no money but is strong and fully able to work He would like to get some light work out-ofdoors and would even be willing to work for a time for his board." It is astonishing to see how sick a man can be and yet consider himself and be considered by others as "fully able to work." In some instances he has high fever and should be at rest in bed; but he and his friends think he could drive an express or delivery wagon or do some other "light" work. In most instances, such light work is all that is necessary to insure for him long months of convalescence from a few weeks or even days of over-exertion. There is no question but that every patient is better off, no matter how slightly his lung may be affected, if he can by any means whatsoever avoid working for the first two or three months spent at a health resort. It is a curious thing, but when a patient does this, in the majority of cases some avenue seems to open by which he can obtain sufficient means to enable him to re main idle a sufficient length of time to insure a restoration to a certain amount of health. The darkest time is usually just before dawn and this seems to be true of the obscurity which overhangs many invalids. Another point which many seem to forget is the fact that easy positions in all health resorts are quickly filled by those who are on the ground. It is no exaggeration to say that in the average health resort there are ten applicants for every easy position. A new comer thinks, of course, he has little or no trouble. He readily imagines that all peorle in health resorts are ill and much worse than himself and that he alone is able to work. He little realizes that there are many already at the health resort who have been there years and have been trying to get a good, suitable position, and have been unable to do so. Another fallacy, very well touched upon by Dr. Pottenger, in his article in the Journal of The Outdoor Life, is the idea entertained by many people who suffer from pulmonary disease that the influence of climate is so potent that all they have to do is to buy a ticket to a health resort, get on the train and their cure is assured. As Dr. Pottenger has emphasized, the air out-of-doors in a bad climate is better than the air indoors in a good climate. It is needless to add that unless a patient puts himself into the hands of a good physician and faithfully carries out his orders his chances for recovery are not nearly so good. Life in a health resort is only beneficial when one submits himself to "the cure" and everything that that implies. SANATORIUMS NOT DANGEROUS. We commend to the attention of the legislators who passed the Goodsell-Bedell bill about a year ago, a portion of the eighth annual report just issued by the Massachusetts State Sanatorium, at Rutland. The Goodsell-Bedell law makes it impossible for any city in New York State or any fraternal order, charitable society, or philanthropic individual to establish a hospital or similar institution for consumptives outside the city limits, except under practically prohibitive conditions. The reason given for the enactment of the Goodsell-Bedell law was that a tuberculosis hospital hurts a town in which it is situated, in the matter of both health and business. It is claimed, however, by the trustees of the Massachusetts Sanatorium that the immediate locality is benefited, and not injured by a sanatorium and facts and figures are given to prove this assertion. Says the report: "The question is often asked, How does the presence of the sanatorium affect the town of Rutland, in which it is located? The information obtained by inquiry of town authorities may be valuable. "The report tends to show that the town has benefited largely, and has not suffered at all in health. The assessors' books show that the entire 365 acres now belonging to |