SOME USES OF THE CAMERA IN ZOOLOGY. 451 



Fortunately, however, each and every one of these drawbacks, 

 save the second mentioned, can be overcome, and this the writer 

 proposes to do in the near future. 



Insects, again, make very instructive pictures as taken by means 

 of the camera, though frequently they are secured with no little 

 diihculty. Photographic pictures of this kind are in the writer's 

 collection, showing beetles, spiders, butterflies, and the like, and a 

 number of them have already been published. Great restlessness on 

 the part of most of the subjects is here what chiefly has to be dealt 

 with and overcome. The large black and yellow butterfly, taken 

 life size, and shown in Fig. 4, occupied the best part of two hours 

 to obtain. It was extremely restive, and declined over and over 

 again to alight upon the day lily that had been selected for it as a 

 perch. Still, indefatigable patience, the prime qualification for 

 achievement in this field of art, in time won over the unintentional 

 obstinacy on the part of this lovely insect, and victory finally 

 crowned the long series of efforts made to secure its photograph. 

 Nothing whatever can be gained here where harshness, haste, or 

 lack of tact are allowed to come into play. On the contrary, one 

 must not only be more or less familiar with the habits of the sub- 

 ject in Nature that he is trying to secure the picture of, but every 

 act and movement on the part of the artist to accomplish this end 

 must be characterized by extreme gentleness, patience, and perse- 

 verance, or else the desired goal will never be reached, and the 

 science of zoology will forever remain ignorant of his power to pro- 

 duce portraits of living forms as they appear in Nature, by employ- 

 ing to that end such an instrument as the photographic camera. 



Mr. C. Hose relates that one of the points of etiquette of the natives of 

 the Baram district of Borneo forbids any man being called away from his 

 meals; and it is even considered wrong to attack an enemy while he is eat- 

 ing. The people assume to converse with spirits and omen birds through 

 the medium of fire. If a man hears the cry of a bird — which is a bad omen 

 — he lights a fire and tells it to protect him. The fire is supposed to speak 

 to the bird. The owner of fruit trees in fruit places round stones in cleft 

 sticks near them, and utters a curse against any one who may attempt to 

 steal the fruit, calling upon the stones to be his witnesses. If a friend pass- 

 ing by wishes to take some of the fruit, he lights a fire and tells the flame 

 to explain matters to the stone, and that is supposed to make him safe. 

 When a house is to be built, all the parts having been made ready to be put 

 together and the oaoens having been consulted, every man, woman, and 

 child in the neighborhood is called upon to help on a given day in erecting 

 the structure ; while a few small boys are sent out to beat gongs and keep 

 up a din, in order that bad omens may not be heard after a good omen has 

 been obtained. 



