AT THE OUTSET. 15 



those pupae were to be taken out, and the teeth there- 

 upon counted. To become an accomplished naturalist 

 is certainly no child's play. 



The insect-men are more substantial fellows, for much 

 depends upon their muscle. Although armed only with 

 a gauze net, it was a matter of business when they were 

 afield. A beetle can fly fast, and a dragon-fly dart er- 

 ratically, but the entomologist is equal to the task, and 

 skims over the meadow on the tips of his toes. One 

 that I know could safely board the lightning-express 

 when under way, and all through practice in gathering 

 tiger-beetles along the sandy river-shore. 



He always had something to show at the end of the 

 day, and always forced from me the admission that I 

 had never seen such and such insects before. 



The microscopist is a favorite of the few that come. 

 He has so easy a time of it that a lazy man naturally 

 envies him. A pint jar, tied up in a newspaper, that 

 the public may not see the contents, and a tin dipper 

 on a stick, are the sum of his equipments when he vent- 

 ures abroad. Watching the clouds, that he may be sure 

 of pleasant weather, he leisurely takes a stroll to some 

 wayside pool, dips up a half-pint of muddy water, and, 

 lo ! his work is done. He has but to go home, enter his 

 den, and look at that water when the spirit moves him. 

 There must be an attraction in this apparently monoto- 

 nous procedure, but it is not one to be shared by an out- 

 sider. He announces new infusoria, novel forms of im- 

 perceptible life, and gives to them startling names. We 



