204 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



A Personal Letter from an AA 

 Member. 

 Atlantic City, New Jersey 

 To the Editor: 



Just a few words to let you know 

 how I am getting on down here at At- 

 lantic. Have been doing some fine 

 collecting in several adjacent fresh- 

 water ponds which abound in all sorts 

 of micro-aquatic life, and have added 

 many new and beautiful specimens to 

 my collection of Rotifers. Here is a 

 list of objects observed and enjoyed, 

 all from a small lake at Oceanville, a 

 hamlet about twelve miles north of 

 Atlantic City. Many Entomostraca 

 including species of Daphnia, Cyclops, 

 •Cypris, Camptocercus, Alonopsis and 

 several genera not yet identified by 

 me. Many Stentors including S. Bar- 

 retti, an interesting little building 

 species ; S. igneus, S. polymorphus and 

 S. coeruleus. This water is simply 

 alive with these forms, all beautiful 

 and interesting objects. Many Des- 

 mids among which were Cosmarium, 

 Docidium. Spirotaenia, Micrasterias 

 (many species) and Closterium. 



The underside of lily pads swarm 

 with many genera and species of 

 aquatic worms and larvae almost too 

 numerous to mention. I have preserved 

 many of these but have not identified 

 them as yet. This also applies to nu- 

 merous beautiful and variously colored 

 mites. 



In this soft water I have found 

 many Rhizopods and have preserved 

 beautifully formed and colored tests 

 the most numerous of which are Dif- 

 flugia pyraformis. 



I found Hydra viridis and H. vul- 

 garis in abundance with many in pro- 

 cess of reproduction by gemmation. 

 Of course, diatoms were plentiful. 

 This should prove a prolific ground to 

 the student interested in these min- 

 ute vegetable forms. Among Roti- 

 fers collected I have Noteus, Anuraea, 

 Cathypna, R. vulgaris, Philodina, 

 Notommata and Euchlanis. Melicer- 

 ta ringens is plentiful. I have also 

 about a dozen forms never before seen 

 by me. I shall try to place them next 

 winter when I have the advantage of 

 my library and of my laboratory fa- 

 cilities. 



Among the many fresh-water algae 

 the most prominent were Batrachos- 

 permum, Spirogyra (several species) 



Chaetophora elegans, Mesocarpus and 

 others. 



I found many exceedingly small but 

 beautiful caddis worms in cases and 

 have preserved some for you which I 

 will send when I mount them on my 

 return home next fall as they are small 

 enough to be mounted in a cell on a 

 slide. There is also another pond on 

 what they call the Zion Road, situ- 

 ated about seven miles from Atlantic 

 City. The microscopical fauna and 

 flora of this body of water are about 

 the same as those of Oceanville Lake, 

 with the exception of a large and beau- 

 tiful species of Micrasterias, also 

 many large and small Protozoa. I 

 found several Rotifers in this pond 

 which are new to me. I cannot re- 

 frain from mentioning the exquisite 

 colonies of Conochilus volvox which 

 abound. From the foregoing you can 

 see that although Atlantic City is a 

 seaside resort, there are good grounds 

 near-by for the student of pond life 

 and of aquatic microscopy. 

 Sincerely yours, 



Frank I. Myers. 



Visited Jean-Henri Fabre. 



One of our friends, Mrs. Samuel M. 

 Conant of Dudley, Massachusetts, 

 sends us the accompanying picture of 

 Jean-Henri Fabre, and under date of 

 August 2, IQ14, writes us from Mar- 

 seilles as follows : 



JEAN-HENRI FABRE. 



