84 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [Mch 



were devoted to the improvement of his education in the 

 direction of his natural talents. He took up the study 

 of nature, and frequented the fields and woods. He had 

 a keen, quick eye, and a clear conception which enabled 

 him to see things in their true relations. With the ad- 

 vice and encouragement of a friend who was already an 

 adept, he soon obtained a fair mastery of the microscope, 

 and then supplemented its use with the camera ; and his 

 photomicrographs were highly commendable. When taken 

 sick, he was engaged in making lantern slides of insect 

 anatomy, a subject into which he had drifted in the na- 

 tural development of his own tastes, and in which he was 

 preparing to make extensive studies. 



Slides and Notes. — During the past year the new 

 "Ea" series of special boxes, mostly 2-slide, has been in 

 full service ; and this, with the regular circuit boxes of 

 the "A" and "A 2 " series, has given an adequate supply. 

 While there is still the inevitable inequality of character 

 in the various slides and boxes, there has been much that 

 was interesting as a study of progress, and not a little 

 that was positively instructive to the most capable. 



Five valuable special boxes, of six slides each, have 

 been generously contributed during the year ; one, of Fly 

 sections, by Prof. T. D. Biscoe ; two, a study of spiders, 

 by Mr. Thos. J. Bray ; one of Anatomical preparations 

 by Dr. H. M. Farr, and another by Dr. H. M. Slaughter. 

 While it would be impracticable and invidious to speak 

 comparatively of these gifts, all of which are excellent 

 it is only fair and proper to say that one of them was in- 

 comparable in at least one respect. The box by Prof. T. 

 D. Biscoe, is not only of the first class in every way, with 

 fine sections and scholarly notes, as is all his work, but 

 is abundantly illustrated with drawings that are abso- 

 lutely unique, elaborate and exhaustive, and finely drawn 

 and perfect as the finest steel engraving, and easily the 

 best set of illustrations ever presented to the Club. 



