SOS 



HAPDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Sept. 1, 1S66. 



wall or doorway, suspended by the smaller end or by 

 a band of hair across the centre, and too often, alas ! 

 becoming a tempting bit to some prying sparrow. 



Then the Ladybirds, those bright busy little 

 creatures, that seem, as old wives say of cats, to 

 have nine lives, it surely is amusing to watch them 

 creep up and np the side of the glass to the iop, 

 and then, when the giddy height is gained, fall back- 

 wards with a great thud which ought to kill, but 

 does not,— and ladybird, with laudable perseverance, 

 makes another effort to gain the top. 



Were I not afraid of trespassing on the space in 

 your pages others can fill so much better, I should 

 be tempted to tell of many interesting traits of our 

 insect friends ; it almost seems as if they came to 

 expect the fresh food and blossoms, and the butter- 

 flies will even allow themselves to be caught on the 

 window-pane and restored to their prison-home, a 

 prison after all, though made as gay as its dimen- 

 sions will admit of. H. R. B. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Simple Section-machine. — There are many who, 

 though in possession of a tolerably good microscope, 

 are unable to afford much money for the purchase of 



?^\\\\ \ \ mT\\n )irr>rt 

 Fig. 201. Section of Machine. 



a 



21 



rnmnmxxwww 



a 



uur/m r 



10 



d 



Fig 205. The parts separated. 



extra pieces of apparatus, but who, nevertheless, take 

 sufficient interest in the pursuit of microscopical 



science, to feel the want of simple and efficient means 

 of procuring interesting objects suited to their in- 

 struments. Among such objects, sections of various 

 woods occupy a prominent position, but are out of 

 the reach of many, on account of the expense of a 

 machine and knife to cut them, and the difficulty of 

 cutting them without. To supply these with a cheap 

 and efficient section-cutting machine is the object 

 of the present paper. 



Fig. 206. Bottom Plan. 



Fig. 207. Top Plan. 



Procure a piece of hard wood, six inches long, four 

 broad, and about as thick as the screw a (Gg. 205) is 

 long. This screw is one of Messrs. Perry & Co.'s 

 music-binders, and costs one penny. Also get some 

 wire bent into the shape of d e (fig. 205), so that 



