One of the reasons why the Catholic Church attains greater success than the Protestants in China is that its missionaries are men, its preachers are … - Edward S. Morse

In the gardens of the better classes summer-houses and shelters of rustic appearance and diminutive proportions are often seen. Rustic arbors are also to be seen in the larger gardens. . High fences, either of board or , or solid walls of mud or tile with stone foundations, surround the house or enclose it from the street. Low rustic fences border the gardens in the suburbs. Gateways of various styles, some of imposing design, form the entrances; as a general thing they are either rustic and light, or formal and massive.

Fifty years ago in , while walking along the road I passed an open field and noticed to my astonishment hundreds of flashing in perfect unison. I watched this curious sight for some time and the synchronism of the flashing was unbroken. Many times after I have watched these luminous insects, hoping to see a repetition of this phenomenon, but the flashes in every instance were intermittent. Since that time I have read about these insects in various books without meeting any allusion to this peculiar behavior. At last I have found a confirmation of my early observations. In of December 9, page 414, is the report of an interesting paper read before the by entitled “ Luminous Insects ” in which reference is made to the remarkable synchronism of the flashes in certain European species of fireflies. ...

Whatever value these records may possess lies in the fact that when they were made, Japan had within a few years emerged from a peculiar state of civilization which had endured for centuries. Even at that time, however (1877), changes had taken place, such as the modern training of its armies; a widespread system of public schools; government departments of war, treasury, agriculture, telegraph, post, statistics, and other bureaus of modern administration, — all these instrumentalities making a slight impress on the larger cities such as Tokyo and , sufficiently marked, however, to cause one to envy those who only a few years before had seen the people when all the wore the two swords, when every man wore the and . The country towns and villages were little, if at all, affected by these foreign introductions, and the greater part of my memoranda and sketches were made in the country.