JVo/fs and ihicrics. 



401 



may desire to have one constructed of a similar 

 pattern, though, as a matter of course, the plan 

 admits of endless modifications, to suit the 

 means of the student or th* position in which 

 such a cabinet is to be placed. 



The table measures nineteen inches from 

 back to front across the centre drawer, and 

 from back to front across the two sides drawers, 

 twelve inches. On this is placed a row of 

 seven-inch cylindrical glasses of clear Hint 

 glass, and in the centre, behind the jars, stands 

 a twelve-inch , bell-glass aquarium , to be stocked 

 with choice fishes or superfluous cabinet speci- 

 mens. The first shelf has a breadth of eight 

 inches to receive a row of six-inch glasses ; the 

 second shelf a breadth of five inches, and the 

 jars upon it measure four inches in diameter. 

 The top shelf is only three and a half inches 

 wide, and the glasses measure three inches 

 across the top. The entire frame work has a 

 breadth of about thirty-two inches, and a 

 height, from the floor of the room to the level 

 of the top shelf, of about sixty-six inches. 



The breadth and height of the window in 

 which the cabinet is to be placed must have the 

 first consideration with any one who may in- 

 tend to construct such a piece of furniture ; the 

 respective sizes of the vessels must be an after 

 consideration, because, unless the whole be so 

 adapted as that it shall enjoj^ a full share of 

 uninterrupted da^dight, very little progress can 

 be effected, especially if the growth of the 

 more delicate forms of aquatic vegetation be 

 attempted. 



In the absence of a properly constructed set 

 of shelves, a few plain ones may be fitted up in 

 a window. A single strip of deal, on brackets, 

 would afford room for a dozen jars, and in 

 these, by judicious groupings, specimens of 

 from fifty to a hundred kinds could be kept, 

 whether for observation by the naked eye or 

 the microscope. 



Our jars are now stocked with minute 

 aquatic plants, beetles of several species, divnng 

 spiders, water worms and mites, larva of 

 beetles and flies, tadpoles in progress of trans- 

 formation, mollusks of choice kinds and spawn 

 of all kinds, removed from the tanks. Species 

 that do not agree may be introduced to the 

 bell glass, for the sake of teaching us the nature 

 and incidents of the strife maintained in the 

 great world out of doors ; the battle may there 

 have its way, and we may study destruction 

 with as much profit as we may the momentary 

 creation, by which the system of Nature is 



maintained in its completeness. In fact, the 

 bell glass is a reservoir into which we may dip 

 for almost anything we want to' fill up vacan- 

 cies in the jar, and to which w^e may consign 

 the superfluities of' a day's collecting, having 

 first assorted and set apart such as are wanted 

 for separate observation and study. 



HUC.0 MlLERRT. 



How to Put Live Bait on tlie Hoolt. 



For years past I have been affixing minnows 

 to the hooks upon an effective and killing plan 

 imparted to me by an old angler whose hairs 

 have grown golden in their grey. The other 

 day I picked up a foreign paper and found the 

 method explained secundein arievi and credit- 

 ed to a western contemporary. I am glad to 

 see that I am not alone in the use of the thread 

 contrivance, but somewhat chargrined that I 

 can only give it second-handed to the anglers 

 who are always thirsting for new devices to 

 warp the instincts and lure the wary fins : 



Take a piece of black cotton thread about a 

 foot long, tie the middle of it tight under the 

 barb of the hook ; now take the bait in the left 

 hand, lay the hook on its side, the barb up by 

 the shoulder of the bait, with the shaft along 

 the belly ; now pass the thread over the shoul- 

 der an (J around under the fish, and tie the shaft 

 of the hook, then pass the thread along the' 

 shaft until under and back of the back fin, then 

 tie tightl}^ around the shaft of the hook, then 

 pass the thread on each side of the fish up to 

 the back, just back of the back fin, and tie with 

 a bow knot. This fastens the bait securely 

 without hurting it, and you will have the live- 

 liest and best bait ever used. L. E. W. 



A Frog on an Outing. 



In the early part of this summer we had a 

 severe thunder storm, accompanied with a 

 high wind, about sundown. The next morn- 

 ing, on entering the sitting room, I saw an ob- 

 ject on the carpet near the window of an un- 

 usual appearance, and presumed some one had 

 purchased a green rubber frog and placed it 

 there for mischief. On a closer inspection I 

 found it was a live frog, white belly, quite a 

 dark green body and black spots ; black stripes 

 across the legs ; body three inches long. He 

 was very lively, and I found him perched on 

 the low window sill when I came back with the 

 watering pot to secure my visitor. I covered 

 the top with the exception of a small space for 



