I02 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



that both functions deserve training. The 

 study of nature itself is therefore an ex- 

 cellent condition for mental development 

 and is to be recommended as the basis 

 of all scientific interests. Yet when we 

 come to the development of principles 

 based on thought, the thinking in words 

 becomes essential.'' 



The Station for Experimental Evo- 

 lution at Cold Spring Harbor, Long 

 Island, reports one hundred successive 

 generations of the common vv^ater flea 

 (Daphiiia pules) without the appear- 

 ance of any males. Another culture, of 

 a different species, has nov\^ reached 

 seventy-six parthenogenetic genera- 

 tions. 



A Spider's Motherly Devotion. 



BY W. I. BEECROFT, ADAMS, MASS. 



Different creatures have different 

 methods of caring for their young, pro- 



Appreciative Words from a Stamford 

 Editor. 



The Agassiz Association of Sound 

 Beach appears to be mounting the 

 ladder of pecuniary success so rapidly 

 of late as to make it a potential candi- 

 date for the ranks of plutocracy. In 

 the annual financial report just made 

 public, the candid confession is made 

 by President Edward F. Bigelow that 

 during the last year he has been paid 

 the sum of $708.44 for mechanical and 

 business work on The Guide to Na- 

 ture, the olffcial organ of the associa- 

 tion, which has provided him with a 

 weekly compensation of $13.62. In his 

 capacity as president of the associa- 

 tion and editor of its magazine, how- 

 ever, he received nothing. The $13.62 

 looks prodigious, owing to the monetary 

 void that preceded the latest year, as 

 during the previous seven years Mr. 



HOW THE SPIDER CARRIES THE YOUNG. 



vided they give them any care. The 

 running spider's habit of carrying the 

 young on the back is a peculiar instance 

 of devotion in a creature so low in the 

 scale of life. In the accompanying il- 

 lustration the mother spider is thus 

 transporting more than two hundred 

 little ones. 



Bigelow's work, mechanical, editorial 

 or any other sort, has gone wholly un- 

 rewarded, and he has even paid rent to 

 the association for personal use of the 

 garden and pethouse. Furthermore, 

 three members of the president's fam- 

 ily assist in the work of the association 

 without compensation. It would appear, 



