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NA TURE-STUD Y RE VIEW [10:8— Nov., 1914 



We asked Professor Parker how fast a snail could travel. This, 

 he said, was a part of the subject which he had never studied ; so 

 he took a large specimen of the white-Hpped snail from the snail- 

 ery, placed him on a board, and took out his watch. The snail 

 hesitated for a moment, and then started to crawl to the other end 

 of the board. In one minute it had crawled two inches. He 

 then again timed it, and it crawled twenty-four inches in fourteen 

 minutes. He then tried a snail of a different species, and found 

 that it took this snail two minutes to crawl two inches. Several 

 other species were tried, and it was found that each seemed to have 

 a certain regular speed, which did not vary to any great extent. 



% 3 



Four Species of Orb Snail 



An Aquarium in a Tumbler 



Elliot R. Downing 

 These fall and winter months are the ones when it is more 

 difficult to get nature-study material, especially the living material. 

 The author has been interested in a little animal for many years 

 that lends itself readily to observation now-a-days. This form 

 is hydra. It is to be found in almost any fresh water pond where 

 there is abundant plant growth and it may be readily collected. 

 You need merely to take a stick with a hook on it, such as may be 

 cut from any tree, using a fork to shape the hook, and with this 

 instrument reach out into the pond and pull in water lily pads, 

 chara, or any of the submerged water plants. This material can 

 be put into a bucket or quart fruit jar and you do not need to carry 

 water in the receptacle unless you are a long ways from home and 

 must take considerable time before it can be put into the aquarium. 

 When you get back from your collecting trip, take out the material 

 and transfer to an aquarium, or glass jars or even quart fruit jars — 

 a handful of the stuff in a quart fruit jar is about the right quantity. 

 Cover this with water and allow it to stand preferably in good light 



