I04 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



A Wide-Awake Chaper. 



Monsarrat School, Louisville, Kentucky. 

 To the Editor : 



Since our former letter to you, the 

 Monsarrat Chapter of the AA has had 

 several enjoyable trips. One excursion 

 was to our beautiful Cherokee Park. We 

 started immediately after school and 

 spent the afternoon in searching for 

 plants and hearing wonderful explana- 

 tions about them. 



Many spring flowers were in bloom, 

 such as the wild yellow poppy, the white 

 and the purple violet and the wild hya- 

 cinth. The hyacinth was more eagerly 

 sought for than any other plant ; the chil- 

 dren scrambled over rocks, climbed hills 

 and did almost anything to reach one. 

 But the roots extend so deep into the 

 ground that it is difficult to get them out 

 unbroken and complete, yet nearly all of 

 our plants had the roots, and most of the 

 children transplanted them in their gar- 

 dens or window boxes. A common plant 

 which interested us was Dutchman's- 

 breeches, another name for squirrel corn. 

 We also got many specimens of jack-in- 

 the-pulpit. 



All our trips have been beneficial and 

 we hope that others in the future will be 

 as successful. 



We held our final regular meeting of 

 the A A on Thursday, June loth. This 

 was the last one for many of us as mem- 

 bers of the Monsarrat School, since we 

 go to High School next September. 



We were pleased to see our letter and 

 pictures in the May number of The 

 Guide; to Nature. When you said that 

 we have caught the real A A spirit of 

 standing for high ideals and accomplish- 

 ing things really worth while, you 

 strengthened our desire to keep that 

 standard, not only in nature study but in 

 everything else. 



A'^ery sincerely yours, 



Letitia Lawrence, 

 Corresponding Secretary. 



The Report of the Larchmont Manor 

 Chapter. 



Larchmont, N. Y 

 To The Agassiz Association : 



Since the members of my schoolroom 

 formed the Larchmont Manor Chapter 

 of The Agassiz Association last June, we 

 have all taken a special interest in the 

 study of nature. 



In the autumn we studied the trees and 

 their bark, especially the nut bearing 



trees. We also made a special study of 

 the silkworm, the bee and the life his- 

 tory of some moths and butterflies. This 

 spring we raised an exceedingly beauti- 

 ful Polyphemus moth in our room. 



In the spring we studied the buds of 

 trees and shrubs. We also learned much 

 about spring flowers and made a collec- 

 tion. 



At the meetings of the AA during the 

 year, we have studied many song birds. 



All the pupils of the ]\Ianor School 

 were delighted with the interesting lec- 

 ture that Dr. Bigelow gave us in Janu- 

 ary on "Roadsides, Fields and Forests." 

 I sincerely hope that we may hear from 

 him again, as he afforded us so much 

 pleasure. 



Hoping to go to ArcAdiA, the inter- 

 esting home of the AA, not only next 

 year, but at many other times, I am 

 Sincerely yours, 



Aeys Boross, 

 Corresponding Secretary. 



A Collecting Pipette. 



Mr. Arthur M. Banta, a member of 

 the staff of the Long Island Station 

 for Experimental Evolution recom- 

 mends for collecting small, active 

 water creatures a peculiar form of 



pipette. The instrument is made from 

 one of the "calcium chloride tubes" 

 sold by dealers in chemical supplies, 

 and is worked by means of a common 

 rubber bulb two inches or so in dia- 

 meter. 



These tubes come in various sizes. 

 A convenient sort will be seven or 

 eight inches long and have a bulb an 

 inch and a half across, with a tube 

 about half this dimension. The wide 

 open end of the tube will, of course, 

 have to be heated and drawn down to 

 the required size for the pipette 

 mouth. 



Because of the large capacity of this 

 type of pipette, there is little danger 

 of drawing a specimen into the rubber 

 bulb, its shortness makes it easier to 

 carry in the pocket than the ordinary 

 long form, it is far more nimble than a 

 net, and less likely to injure delicate 

 specimens or itself come to grief. 



