98 HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [PACicAKn. 



tory. Finally, he who would content himself with a thorough 

 study of the insect crust, and trace the laws of growth of the 

 insect frame, the principle by wiiich the body walls are built 

 up, one part at tlie expense of another, and would for him- 

 self rediscover Savigny's law of the identity of the jaws and 

 antennae with the legs, and acquaint himself with Audouin's 

 grand generalizations regarding the composition of the tho- 

 rax, and thus study the morphology of insects- — in short, he 

 who would stud}' Nature, pondering as he walks, interrogat- 

 ing her at each step, training himself in the philosophy of 

 science, striving after a combination of the insight of the 

 poet with the inductive spirit of the natural philosopher, and 

 thus avail himself of one of the shortest paths (if a short 

 one he must take) to self culture, would do well to devote 

 the leisure of his winter to the despised and neglected bugs 

 on the plants in the window. If, reader, you are incredulous 

 and think this mere rhapsody, try it. In the summer we are, 

 mayhap, too much diverted by the attractions which draw 

 us from one side to another and distract our thoughts. In 

 the winter one is forced to be more of a specialist, and no 

 one but a specialist need hope to obtain a far-reaching 

 knowledge of natural phenomena. The great need of this 

 country is educated specialists. We boast that everybody 

 knows a little of everything. Let every one endeavor to 

 learn a good deal of something. 



So, good reader, provide yourself with a microscope, a 

 Zentmeyer's student's stand we like best, with an inch and 

 a half, a one-half and a one-fifth inch objective, such as IMr. 

 Tolles makes, a Tolles triplet and stand for holding it, for- 

 ceps, delicate scissors and needles mounted in handles, good 

 strong eyes, a large stock of patience and fingers that are 

 not all thumlis. Armed with these let us plunge into the 

 wilderness of biolog^^ and follow the pioneers who have 

 mapped out the path for us. Let us place an Aphis in the 

 field of the microscope under the lowest powers. Eemove 



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