NATURE STUDY LKSSONS. 237 



are captured. He supplies vials of chloroform and labels, 

 and specimens reach Tring labeled with the name of the 

 creature on which they are found. They are then classi- 

 fied, hermetically sealed and packed away with thousands 

 of their mummified brothers. 



A specimen in the collection from a point nearest either 

 pole is a flea from Kerguelen Islands, in Antarctica, but 

 Mr. Rothschild is anxious to have fleas from the blue fox, 

 the polar bear, the Eskimo dog and other arctic animals. 

 So it came about that the captain of the Forget- Me-Not re- 

 ceived a commission to hunt the arctic flea. — London Dis- 

 patch in Chicago Record- Herold. 



Nature Study Lessons. XII. 



BY EDWARD J. BURNHAM. 



Insects present special advantages for those who would 

 help children in their attempts at nature study. In many 

 respects they are to be preferred to flowers and birds, al- 

 though these, of course, should not be neglected. Plants 

 are in bloom but a short time each year, and it is not al- 

 ways easy to interest children in roots, stalks and leaves. 

 Indeed, when the plants are in bloom, children are not apt 

 to be greatly impressed by the difference in number of sta- 

 mens and pistils or the shape and character of the style. 

 As a rule, birds must be studied at long range, and one 

 must be content with snatches of song and occasional 

 glimpses of the songster. The study of birds and flowers 

 is adapted to people of mature years rather than to very 

 small children. 



Insects, on the other hand, are easily captured, most of 

 them may be safely handled, they are abundant every- 

 where, and are to be found in some stage of development 

 at every season of the year. In addition to these advan- 

 tages, there are few other objects in nature that interest 

 children so keenly, and at the same time yield so readily 



