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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



many lace bugs in the spring to hurt 

 my sycamore tree. What a wonderful 

 world do we find this to be, if we only 

 look at it, and how man}' wonderful 

 things there are to look at, of which 

 most people have never heard, though 

 these wonders are daily under their 

 very finger tips and before their eyes. 

 1 bought a five dollar microscope for 

 my young son, and while of course its 

 magnifying power is not nearly as 

 great as is that of the instruments that 

 I use, it is enough to enable him to 

 pass away many a dull hour with much 

 benefit. How indescribably better than 

 to go to New York to see a silly show. 

 Since I have lived in the country I 

 have never had a dull moment. 

 Yours sincerely, 



John C. Uhrlaub. 



Of the lace bugs, Comstock saysr 

 "Dainty as fairy brides are these 

 tiny, lace-draped insects. One glance 

 at the fine white meshes that cover the 

 wings and spined thorax is sufficient 

 to distinguish them from all other in- 

 sects, for these are the only ones that 

 are clothed from head to foot in fine 

 white Brussels net. They live upon 

 the juices of plants, and in the case 

 of the Hawthorn Tingis sometimes 

 prove too numerous for the health of 

 their plant host. 



"They are very small insects, rarely 

 measuring more than one eighth of an 

 inch in length. Their eggs are fastened 

 to leaves, and covered by a brown,, 

 sticky substance ; they appear more 

 like fungi than like the eggs of other 

 insects." — Ed. 



Put a Light Shield on the Camera. 

 To obtain the greatest benefit from 

 a high grade lens the camerist should 

 use some form of light shield. When 

 one goes into a high class portrait 

 studio he will note that the photog- 

 rapher uses a very long and large 

 light shield. But here of all places 

 such a shield is the least needed be- 

 cause the light does not come from 

 every direction, but only through the 

 windows. Yet even in such a situation 

 the photographer evidently regards it 

 as necessary to place the light 

 shield over his lens in order to have it 

 work to the greatest advantage. Ask 

 any manufacturer of high grade lenses, 

 and he will tell you that the best re- 

 sults are secured, especially when the 

 camera is used out of doors in a strong 

 light that comes from every direction, 

 by having a circular shield on the lens. 

 But strange to say, not one such manu- 

 facturer, so far as I know, regularly 

 lists a shield for the lens. I have had 

 an interesting and extended correspond- 

 ence with several, and while thev ail 



admit the necessity of the shield, they 

 allow their lenses to go into the market, 

 and into the hands of inexperienced 

 people, without this appliance. I am 

 of the opinion that the higher the grade 

 and the faster the lens — that is, the 

 larger the opening — the more is it in 

 need of such a shield. It is self-evident 

 that large apertures expose more glass 

 to the light than the small ones, but I 

 believe it to be true that a lens wide 

 open has greater need of the shield 

 than when it is stopped down, because, 

 to a certain extent, the diaphragm pre- 

 vents ill efrects from side light. 



The Bausch & Lomb Optical Com- 

 pany have, at my request, supplied a 

 metal shield for a Protar as shown in 

 the upper part of the accompanying il- 

 lustration. It is of brass lacquered on 

 the outside and painted black on the 

 inside. This is very efficient when 

 once attached. It is held firmly in 

 place by screwing it within the Mange 

 at the front of the lens, but it has one 

 disadvantage. It cannot be so readily 

 adjusted as can one that slips over the 



