A great part of the interest felt in natural beauty is perhaps to be traced to extraneous considerations. On the other hand, here in Germany we see most of our people full of feeling for our glorious forests and for our German scenery in general. We have to face the prospect, however, of a silenced countryside--a countryside without song or music.[14] That is a matter for anxiety. Insects, birds, quadrupeds, life and movement should be a part of the landscape. This idea should continue to attract more and more adherents. German thought and feeling are altogether in unison on this subject, and it is to be hoped that the cry for the protection of the beauties of nature, for the preservation of the plant and animal worlds, and all that is picturesque in our native landscape, may continue to find expression. The League for the Preservation of the Homeland in Germany gains daily new supporters. [Illustration: _C. G. Schillings, phot._ BEARERS ON THE MARCH.] Men like Professor Conwentz and many others have been working for years in this direction, and carrying on a most successful propaganda. This action for the preservation of the Homeland, taken in the highest and broadest sense of the word, must tend to evoke and foster the love of nature and its beauties in ever wider circles. In other countries, too, steady progress is being made towards the same goal, and the importance of these considerations has long been recognised. In England and in America a way has recently been found to give practical effect to the idea of the protection of the beauties of nature by measures well calculated for this end. In this connection, too, a refined æsthetic culture is gaining ground. I do not at all close my eyes to the difficulty of regulating the conditions bearing on this matter. But in this connection we must not shrink from decisive measures. Those who come after us will be the first to prize and esteem these measures at their full value. What I have here described as something to be desired and worth striving for at home must also hold good for the whole world--the preservation of all that is characteristic, all that belongs to primitive nature, wherever it is to be found. The beauties of nature are most abundant, and in our time they are all--all--threatened with destruction and in need of protection. Where we can save and preserve any of them, our hands should not remain idle. But where this is not possible, let us secure “nature-documents,” paintings, representations of all kinds as true to life as may be. In this way we shall, at least, save for future ages memorials of enduring worth, for which our children’s children will give us thanks. [Illustration: