1890.] MICKOSCOPICAL JOUIiNAL. 241 



readers or others take exception, the critics are invited to send their 

 criticisms to us. If the criticisms are just and serve to correct manifest 

 errors, or to throw^ new light upon disputed questions, and if they are 

 written in a manly and courteous spirit, they will be published. It 

 happens, however, that recently some criticisms have been indulged in 

 which cannot command the respect of honorable men. An article has 

 recently been published in a Western newspaper in which the writer 

 took to task one of the prominent members of the Washington Micro- 

 scopical Society for alleged errors in a paper read here in June, as to 

 the date when vaccination was discovered, etc. The tone of the arti- 

 cle was offensive and personal. It could not have gained admittance to 

 any publication except a newspaper, whose editor was very unfamiliar 

 with microscopy. The writer dared not offer the article before the So- 

 ciety itself. Had the criticisms, however, been couched in unoffensive 

 language and seemed free from personal enmity, we should have been 

 glad to print them. What pleasure a microscopist can take in thus at- 

 tacking a brother microscopist anonymously and in the dark, we fail to 

 imagine. The study of science apparently does not foster brotherly 

 love. We regret that it should be so. The best cure for it is to offer, 

 as we do, to print criticisms which are fair and just. 



BOYS' DEPARTMENT. 



How to Study Pond Life. 



By a. H. BRECKENFELD, 



SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 



[Read at the Microscopical Society, Aug. 13, 1890.] 



We know that beneath the miniature wave of the running brook, the 

 quiet pool, or the wayside ditch, there may be found a fauna and flora, 

 almost or quite invisible to the unaided eye, which rival the denizens 

 of the field and forest in beauty and diversit}' of form, and variety and 

 brilliancy of coloring. The study of Pond Life is a line of investigation 

 inexhaustible in extent, easy of pursuit, and fascinating in the extreme, 

 not only to the scientific worker, but also to the casual and unskilled 

 observer. To pursue it you need not go far afield, for even the vs^ater- 

 tanks on your housetops, or a muslin filter attached to your kitchen 

 faucet will furnish an incredible abundance of animal and veo-etable life. 



o 



The small ponds and ditches scattered about the city will furnish other 

 and more numerous forms. 



In undertaking an expedition in search of pond organisms, the equip- 

 ment can be made as elaborate or as simple as may be desired. A few 

 wide-mouthed bottles with some sort of a dipping net, and a pocket 

 magnifier are an absolute necessity, but this simple outfit may be ex- 

 panded into the elaborate apparatus sold by dealers in microscopical 

 supplies, done up in morocco case and shoulder-strap to aid in carrying 

 it. A few yards of cord with a three-pronged hook attached may be 

 advantageously used in bringing to shore floating masses or clumps of 

 weeds, which look promising. In the absence of the hook three or 

 four nails or a pebble to which the cord is attached will serve the same 

 purpose. 



The best method and the places for finding various minute organisms 



