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.
Chapter XV In the Land of Irving
the first settlers on PhiUpse's ]mtent was ONE a ofSwede named Jeremiah Dobbs, who took up land at the i:)lace variously spelled, in old records, Wacquesquick, Wisquaqua, and Weeckquaesguck. Algonc[uin names, after passing through various phonetic arrangements, have a varied anthography. The name here c[uoted is translated to mean the Place of the Bark Kettle. What the tradition may ha\^e been that associated such a name with the little brook that enters the river here, and afterwards applied it to quite an extensive territory, no antiquary has discovered. Dobbs had a shanty on Willow Point and eked out his modest living by ferrying chance passengers over the river in his ]:)eriauger, or dugout. His name was easier to pronounce than Weeckquaesguck, and being, moreover, associated with a ferry, it was perpetuated as a place name, while that of the bark kettle fell into disuse. But Dobbs is a thorn-in-the-side to the residents near his ferry, who have made several very serious