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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



used, is too great to permit of listing 

 in anything short of a historical record, 

 but his epoch making achievement was 

 the demonstration of the possibility of 

 producing objectives with apertures 

 exceeding the equivalent of 180 de- 

 grees in air. At a time when the 

 world's leading authorities, under the 

 leadership of Wenham, were almost 

 unanimous in the opinion that this 

 was impossible, Tolles not only made 

 such objectives, but knew that he did 



IT, KNEW HOW HE DID IT and WHY HE 



did it. But what appealed most to the 

 amateur microscopist, and tends to 

 canonize Tolles as the patron saint of 

 this rapidly decreasing brotherhood, 

 was the fact that he placed the advance 

 of microscopy beyond all consideration 

 of personal profit, and permitted 

 Colonel J. J. Woodward, who had 

 taken sides with him in the discussion, 

 to publish in the Monthly Microscopi- 

 cal Journal of London a diagram of 

 one of his objectives, showing every 

 detail of construction and the course of 

 the rays. At the same time he fur- 

 nished to Professor Reuel Keith all 

 the elements of its construction to be 

 published, with a mathematical demon- 

 stration as to the true aperture of the 

 lens, thus putting an end to a bitter 

 dispute which had for years been 

 waged in the Journals of England and 

 America, but at the same 'time neces- 

 sarily revealing his best formula to 

 rival opticians. 



With respect to the character of his 

 work, it -is sufficient to say that in my 

 own collection are included dry objec- 

 tives made by him more than fifty 

 years ago that are scarcely equalled by 

 any of similar power now obtainable 

 and immersion objectives from 

 twenty-three to thirty years old, which 

 are surpassed by only the very finest 

 apochromats of recent years. 

 Very sincerely yours, 



F. J. Keeley. 



Some must teach, some must in- 

 vestigate, some must adapt to human 

 uses. It is not often that these func- 

 tions can be united in the same indi- 

 vidual. It is not necessary that they 

 should be united ; for art is long, 

 though life is short, and time is fleet- 

 ing. — David Starr Jordan in "The Sta- 

 bility of Truth." 



Do Not Uproot the Wild Flowers. 



It is astonishing how much human 

 effort is used to prevent what should, 

 to every one, appear to be self-evident. 

 Weeds must be uprooted but wild 

 flowers, especially the rare and retiring 

 ones, should be cared for, nourished 

 and treated kindly, but to further such 

 ends a special society seems to be re- 

 quired. At least there is such a society, 

 particulars of which may be obtained 

 from Miss Amy Folsom, 88 Marlbor- 

 ough Street, Boston, Massachusetts. 



If all were members of The Agassiz 

 Association, there surely would be no 

 need for any special society to foster 

 any particular phase of nature, be- 

 cause our fundamental principle is to 

 teach and to practice kindness, care, 

 love and study for all things included 

 within the kingdom of nature. 



Transplanting Wild Flowers. 



Red Bank, New Jersey. 

 To the Editor :- 



I have a wild columbine in flower at 

 this date, that has bloomed every year 

 for forty years. I, as a child, dug it up, 

 and put it where it now is. 



Some of the wild flowers are so beau- 

 tiful and so easy to get that it is sur- 

 prising that so few persons have them 

 about their homes. Hepatica can be 

 moved at almost any time. I have 

 often transplanted the blooming plant. 

 It always lives, if it is watered for 

 awhile to give it a chance. 



Bloodroot will also live, if you will 

 dig up the entire root, and plant it in a 

 rather shady place. There is Jack-in- 

 the-pulpit. I have that in the bed with 

 Hepatica. It is at its best at this date. 



If you care for such things, you can 

 get much real pleasure while watching 

 them grow. When they are at their best 

 they are worth looking at and worth 

 showing to your friends, especially to 

 those that have no place in which to 

 raise anything of the kind. 



I have named only a few of the com- 

 mon early blooming plants. There are 

 dozens of delicate and dainty wild 

 flowers that one can have for the dig- 



ging- 



A. R. Coleman. 



The Banner of Dawn. 



Its red, the red of morning sky, 



Its white, the valley mist : 

 Its blue, the blue of mountain heights 



Before they are sun-kissed. 



— Emma Peirce. 



