322 



INSECT LIFE. 



form, color, or of shape of appendages. In others it 

 is difficult to determine the sex without dissection. 

 When the sex of a specimen is known it should be 

 indicated on the label. This is commonly done bv 

 using the astronomical sign $ or ? , the former indi- 

 cating the male sex, the latter the female. It will aid 

 the student in distinguishing these signs to remember 

 that $ represents the shield and spear of Mars, and 

 $ the hand-glass or mirror of Venus. In the case of 

 social insects, as ants, bees, and wasps, the workers 

 are indicated by Q . 



ON TAKING NOTES. After many years' experi- 

 ence I am sure that nothing more important can be 

 said to the young student regarding the taking of 

 notes than to urge him to take them at the time 

 the observation is made. If you make an observa- 

 tion in the field do not wait till you return to your 

 study to record it, but write an account of what you 

 have seen immediately, and do this, if possible, while 

 observing the fact. Almost invariably the writing 

 of an account of an observation will suggest queries, 

 many of which can be answered at the time the ob- 

 servation is made, but not after the observer has 

 returned to his study. 



Even in those cases where it is intended to make 

 a long and serious study of a subject, every phenom- 

 enon observed should be noted as soon as seen. 

 Make your record while the occurrence is fresh in 

 your mind, before it loses the charm of novelty and 

 becomes a commonplace. Many an account is very 

 incomplete simply because the writer has become so 

 familiar with certain details that it does not seem to 

 him worth while to record them. The reader will 



