36 THE MICROSCOPE. Mar., 



amoDg the Aphides, and as soon as the young larvae are 

 able to move about they begin to feed upon them, and in 

 a few days not an Aphis will be found on the plant. 

 Some of the Ichneumon flies and other insects destroy 

 the Aphides by laying their eggfi in its body. The lar- 

 vae feed upon upon the insect and escape, leaving the 

 skin of the Aphides brown and dry. These skins are 

 often found, sometimes with a fungus growth upon them. 

 The larvae of the Ephedrus plagiator escape by a little 

 hole in the side of the body, to which a circular door is 

 attached by a piece of uncut skin. The larvae of another 

 insect escape by pushing off the three last segments of 

 the abdomen. 



A Model to Follow. 



BY RENE SAMvSON, 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Last October, I spent an evening in Paris with Mr. 

 George Cliff'ord the author of several articles in the 

 micoscopical periodicals of Washington signed "No Sig" 

 when he kindly showed me under the microscope the 

 most interesting slides of his collection and explained 

 to me his practical methods in microscopy which have 

 been or will be described in these periodicals. 



Mr. Cliff'ord can certainly be called"a model to follow'' 

 for a beginner or amateur microscopist. I would have 

 been happy to have had our readers admire this wor- 

 ker in science, enjoy an evening with his instruments 

 and see with what methods he proceeds in everything. 



The principal rules he follows are: The working 

 table of a microscopist must always be cleared off. 

 As soon as he is through with an instrument, a bottle 

 or a book he must put it ba*ck in its own place. Af- 

 ter using a brush it must be cleaned immediately, 

 before puting it aside. Always wipe the neck of a 



