you. We fear that many of our Juuior Naturalists do not send us 

 a written account of their own ohservations, but try to make their 

 letters read well by telhiig us facts which they have learned from 

 others. We hope that you will not do this. We would rather have 

 a few lines which tell of your personal interest in something in 

 nature, than whole pages giving an account of the observations of 

 other people. 



If there were space in this lesson, we should publisli a set of 

 dues which were received tbis mornino; from an enero-etic club in 

 Patchogue, X. Y. A physician in the village, who has an interest 

 in young students, encouraged a number of high school boys to take 

 work in nature-study. We feel that they have started out in the 

 right way to become good nature lovers. As yet their work has in 

 no way suggested that their information has been obtained fi'om 

 books. They have been out in the iields and woods and along the 

 shore of Great South Bay ; they have been interested in tlie natural 

 objects about them, and they have sent us an account of their 

 ol)servations. One of the letters reads as follows : 



Patchogue, L. I., K. Y. 

 Dear Uncle John : 



As I was walking around one night up the street I saw that it was 

 going to rain ; so I started home. While I was jDassing a dark place 

 I kicked a little branch of a tree and as I did so there was a funny 

 noise made which I thought came from the branch so I picked it up 

 and took it to the light where I soon found what it was. It was a 

 bug about an inch and a quarter long and not quite as broad. It 

 had two eyes that looked more like horns than anything else, although 

 it had two little hair-like projections which I supposed to be some 

 kind of horns. It has six legs on the under side. Back of the legs 

 is a sort of creased abdomen which, lifted up a little when the 

 bug is alive, will make him yell. There is a sort of bunch on 

 his back between the roots of his wings. On his head is a sort of 

 horn which enters a projecting part of his head. It has four trans- 

 parent wings, which when both together look like a single pair 



only. 



HERBERT WOODHULL. 



438 



