Even as far away as Tarrytown, which is eight or ten miles distant across the river, windows are shaken, and the sick often seriously disturbed by the heavy detonations, while at Ossining, more nearly opposite the Point, invalids and the aged are particularly distressed by the rattling and shaking, the shock and the uproar. It is time that there should be a general understanding of the rights of the ]xiblic in such matters. Already, in numberless ways, the right of public protection isadmitted. In the erection of buildings, the establishment of unsavoury enterprises, the storage of dangerous explosives, or the traffic in infected goods, the right of communal defence against individual aggression isenforced. The property-holder is enjoined that he must hold his property subject to the wellbeing of the community. Why has not the community a right to the pleasure of the eye and the rest of the ear and the peace of the nerves, as well as to

Spectres of the Tappan Zee 225

immunit}^ from noxious odours and unwholesome vapours? Do we not admit that diseases of the nerves are among the most prevalent, the most varied, the most stubborn, and the most dangerous of any with which medical science has to cope? There is no reason why the population of the towns upon the Hudson should sit down supinely. If the aesthetic basis is asserted by a community, it will be recognised by the law. Let people understand that a landscape is a public possession, that beauty in nature, the curve of hill and colour of foliage, is educational, and that the loss of these things is a serious one to them and to their children.