3 88 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



Literary 



t- — -andBIOGI 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



Stories of Rocks and Minerals. By Harold 

 W. Fairbanks, Ph. D., for the Grammar 

 Grades. Boston. Educational Publish- 

 ing Co. 



"It is not the intention of the author to 

 offer this little book as a systematic treat- 

 ise upon minerals and rocks. Only the com- 

 mon ones are discussed, and in the treatment 

 of these the effort has been not so much to 

 impart information, as to arouse the inter- 

 est of the pupil ; to lead him to s*ee in rocks 

 and minerals and the changes which they 

 undergo illustrations of the great processes 

 which have shaped the 

 for habitation. 



"Rocks and minerals 

 often attractive. Many 

 mately bound up with our every-day expe- 

 riences. This is not all; they have not ex- 

 isted eternally as they are now. They all 

 have had histories which are often of ex- 

 ceeding interest; histories which, when un- 

 derstood in even the most simple way, add 

 greatly to the intelligence and pleasure 

 with which we can studv them." 



earth and fitted it 



m 

 of 



themselves are 

 them are inti- 



hundred finely 



illustrates 

 length, all 



and 

 the 



The Microscope and Its Revelations. By 



Carpenter. Eighth Edition. Philadel- 

 phia: P. Blakiston's Son & Company. 



This volume is a veritable library in it- 

 self with its eleven hundred and eighty-one 

 pages, five photographic plates of diatom 

 resolutions, nine colored plates of algae, 

 desmids, acarina, etc., nine plates in black 

 and white and over eight 

 executed cuts in the text. 



This well known work 

 describes, at considerable 

 different classes of microscopical objects. 

 Monographic chapters on the different 

 species of animal and vegetable life, from 

 the simple cell to the higher complex or- 

 ganisms, make this volume a valuable and 

 pleasant "revelation." 



There are clear and full descriptions of 

 instruments, accessories, illuminators, etc., 

 with directions for their proper use — and 

 the "why" of it. Methods for the preserva- 

 tion and preparation of objects, for imbed- 

 ding and cutting sections, for staining and 

 mounting in balsam and fluid, in shallow 

 and deen cells, are given in full detail. 



This book encourages the reader to look 

 into the microscopical world with, at least, 

 a pocket magnifier, and a pocket lens ought 

 to be carried and used by every reader of 

 this journal. 



The ordinary lazv amateur cannot hone 

 to follow the studious technical man, who 



has forged so far ahead in his line, but the 

 technical man is still far from knowing it 

 all. The field is very, very wide and it cries 

 loudly for a thousand workers to come to 

 the harvest. 



The insect world alone, with its many 

 varieties of metamorphoses and develop- 

 mental changes, presents opportunity for 

 many workers. Insects have sense organs 

 in the antennae and legs and perhaps else- 

 where. Look for them. Gall insects and 

 their ways are still little known. Insects 

 parasitic on other insects need more study. 

 Almost every species of animal and bird 

 has its own parasitic insects and mites, of 

 which much is still unknown. These para- 

 sites sometimes trouble man. Plant tendrils 

 and other plant organs have lately been 

 found to possess something like sense or- 

 gans. The fertilization of plants is still 

 imperfectly known, excepting in a relative- 

 ly few species. The rusts and other micro- 

 fungi have been studied by few; yet they 

 are common at all seasons. The technical 

 man is not numerous enough to cover all 

 the ground and keep it for himself. 



The coming amateur must, however, go 

 a little deeper than the old time, easy going 

 preparer of dry wings and legs. He must 

 do better and he can do better work. 



Imbedding insects and developing plant 

 buds, cutting them into serial sections and 

 using the standard nuclear stains is, at 

 first, troublesome but not at all beyond the 

 ability of the average handy man. The 

 series of operations soon becomes, in a 

 measure, automatic, and as experience ri- 

 pens the difficulties become lighter and a 

 routine series of steps is soon established. 

 Having mastered the technic of making 

 sections of objects containing loose or deli- 

 cate internal parts, the world seems ready 

 to surrender her secrets. The study of 

 serial sections is extremely fascinating; the 

 wonderful cell structures and cell relations 

 continually incite one to go deeper into 

 the subject. The amateur thinks he is 

 barred out by natural selection; he is bar- 

 red onlv by an unnatural detection. The 

 micro-worker can find beautiful and won- 

 derful things in his garden. He is not 

 limited to davlight nor to flashlight. He 

 can do valuable work during his evening 

 or other spare hours, if his days are occu- 

 pied with the sterner dut^- of life. All 

 the stens of preparing, cutting and stain- 

 ing have "lie over" neriods which can be 

 arranged to nermit. the nersonal attention 

 to come at convenient times. 



S. G. Shanks. 



