266 



HARDWICKE' S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



determining proportions ; no graphic or perfect 

 drawing is helped by its continued use ; after afford- 

 ing the barest outlines and positions, the instrument 

 becomes an encumbrance, and those who are prac- 

 tised in its employment feel a palpable sense of 

 relief and breathe again when it is got rid of, to 

 settle down to the earnest work of direct vision 

 from the microscope. If the apparatus Mr. Hobson 

 describes in his paper could be used with facility, 

 everything would be reduced to mere rule of thumb, 

 destructive to the peculiar charm of a " picture." 

 It has been urged by the writer that a good micro- 

 scopic preparation may be as fine a subject for 

 painting as a group of poppies, or a nest of birds' 

 eggs ; but no true artist ever dreams of employing 

 mechanical appliances to assist him in rendering 

 such models. William Hunt used photographs 



Fig. 166. — i. An object as seen through the microscope, i. An 

 object as reflected by the camera lucida. 3. An object as it 

 appears through the neutral tint reflector. 4. The object 

 after " semi-rotation of the stage." 



as an aid in his wonderful studies of still life, but 

 only in the sense of enabling himself to calmly 

 contemplate the involved intricacies of line and form ; 

 and Mr. Ruskin, in his works on elementary art, 

 recommends the study of, and copying sun pictures, 

 to impress on the mind the subtle truths of natural 

 contours. Every true artist, under such education, 

 develops eventually an innate sense of beauty and 

 colour, and a capability of expressing it, only limited 

 by his earnestness. This principle is intensified to a 

 degree hardly yet understood or experienced, except 

 by those who have persevered in its practice, in 

 dealing with the wonderful elegance and delicacy of 

 microscopic forms ; need it be said, that all such 

 efforts must necessarily be trammelled and impeded 

 by any royal road to such work ; as an instance, the 

 microscopical photograph is worthless, beyond being 

 a record^of proportion and mere character ; as a 



picture it is an utter failure ; in a word, beyond the legi- 

 timate and cautious use of the camera lucida, all aids to 

 microscopic representations should be avoided, every 

 scheme to obtain results in drawing, independent of 

 accuracy of eye, and love of the work is not worth 

 pursuing. No other branch of art can be approached 

 with a keener or deeper sense of the absolute 

 necessity of close and conscientious observation. 

 Structural beauty as seen in the marvellously 

 dissected organs of animals and stained tissues of 

 botanical specimens, or even in w T hat might be 

 considered repulsive subjects (pathological prepara- 

 tions), cannot be extolled too highly ; in the whole 

 range of natural objects, no greater beauty can be dis- 

 covered. In scientific professions, clear and accurate 

 drawing is of importance ; to the naturalist the 

 accomplishment is of deep significance ; not very 

 difficult of attainment ; the key-note of the mind of 

 the artist microscopist is, that touchstone of all 

 good work, admiration ! It has been well said that 

 in all cases of artistic feeling, the pursuit is the 

 reward, not the result ; a fact so patent that often 

 the charm and beauty of a mere sketch, direct 

 from nature, is more valuable in its simple truth 

 than any elaboration it might receive by after 

 adventitious aid. Advocating in these papers the 

 pursuit of highly finished microscopical painting 

 as a branch of "fine art," the fact must never be 

 ignored that a few rapid lines from direct obser- 

 vation produced on the spur of the moment, possess 

 an interest of a most appreciable character. This 

 acquirement is not beyond the capability of the 

 merest tyro soon discovered and realized when he 

 cultivates the habit of having a drawing block, pen 

 and pencil as adjuncts to his instrument. 

 Crouch End. 



A MONSTER SEA CRAB {INACHUS 

 KEMPFERI). 



SOME years ago there was exhibited at San 

 Francisco the largest crab in the world. Since 

 that time not having seen an account of a larger one, 

 I send a description of it, which has been taken from 

 the papers published at the Californian capital about 

 the time the crab was shown to the public. 



This Crustacean monster was captured in the Bay 

 of Yeao, Japan, clinging to the wreck of the ill-fated 

 United States' corvette Ouide, which came into 

 collision with the English steamer Bombay ; it was 

 captured by some native fisherman employed by the 

 Japanese authorities to drag the spot where the colli- 

 sion occurred, for the purpose of recovering the 

 bodies of those who went down with the vessel. 



Possibly this monster was attracted to the 

 spot for the purpose of feeding on the remains 

 of the unfortunate passengers. It is stated the 

 native coasting population feed upon a large crab, 



