1408 



Journal of Applied Microscopy 



"^ 



which is fastened to the back end of the cone of metal gauze, and a ring, 

 affixed to the end of a handle of about the size of an ordinary walking stick 



(Fig. 2), fits into this groove and is firmly 

 clamped in this position. The collector 

 then has perfect control of his net and can 

 dip into a contracted space, scrape the 

 margin of a pool, reach beneath a dock or 

 other obstruction, or while wading sweep 

 the bed of vegetation which carpets the 

 bottom by passing the net back and forth 

 from right to left and left to right before him 

 as he walks. The figures given will illus- 

 trate the method of construction more 

 clearly than can be done by means of a 

 description, and to them the reader is 

 referred for further particulars. 



Reference may also be made to certain 

 other details of construction which exper- 

 ience has shown to be of advantage. First, it is found that if the wire 

 which forms the ring (r) to which the cord is attached be carried down inside 

 the gauze cone to its base and there firmly soldered to 

 another ring which forms the margin of the base of the cone, 

 the stiffness thus gained is of great advantage. Second, if 

 the tip of the cone be filled in with lead for a short distance 

 the weight serves to hold the " nose " of the net down, and 

 it draws through the weeds to better advantage. The attach- 

 ing of a " sinker " to the cord attached to the net has been 

 tried, but the " sinker " is liable to be caught and the " nose " 

 of the net is, also, not carried down into a bed of Chara, as 

 is desirable in the work of the writer. Third, it is suggested 

 that the free margin of the tin cylinder (t) be made to project in the form of a 

 flange, and that by " running " a cord through the overlapped border of the 

 cloth net (n) this latter can be easily adjusted for use and as readily removed. 

 Fourth, the writer has found that if the cup at the end of the cloth net which 

 receives the collection be heavy by being made of a piece of lead pipe (Fig. 4) 

 the net is less liable to " foul " itself in casting, and also sinks more quickly, as 

 this end of the net is carried downward the more rapidly. For his own nets the 

 writer uses a fine cheese-cloth, and lines this on the inside in the lower two-thirds 

 with a fine quality of China silk, which costs about seventy-five cents a yard, and 

 is thus much cheaper than bolting cloth while serving equally well. 



The author is in the habit, during collecting trips taken to different portions 

 of the state, of gathering material of all kinds, having in view the use of it in 

 the interest of a complete faunal survey of the state, which it is hoped before 

 many years may become possible. He has found it very useful to standardize 

 his nets and thus to make them all capable of insertion into the same ferrule, 

 whereby it becomes possible, by carrying one handle, to affix it as desired to any 



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