8 FIELD AND FOREST. 



socket at one end, and a screw-plug in the lower one to keep the dirt 

 out. The gauze forming the net should be bound with cotton cloth 

 at the open end, in the form of a deep hem, as the joints of the frame 

 must have room to play, and at the same time to allow easy removal 

 of the net. 



Fig. 5 is a form of aquatic net (after Packard). It is made of grass 

 cloth or some coarse material, fastened to a stout ring a foot or more 

 in diameter. A similar net somewhat deeper and made of swiss mus- 

 lin, is useful for sweeping grass and herbage. The folding net (Fig. 4) 

 may be provided with a sweeping bag attachment of muslin, but it is 

 rather liable to injury with rough usage. 



Fig. 6, a little instrument copied from Newman's " History of In- 

 sects," is useful for taking diptera or hymenoptera from umbelliferous 

 flowers. It consists of a scissor-like frame with two circular or octag- 

 onal rings covered' with silk gauze or swiss muslin. When the two 

 arms are brought together by the finger and thumb, the insect is im- 

 prisioned between the discs, and can be chloroformed and handled 

 without injuring the specimen. 



Charles R. Dodge. 



Exploration of Ancient Aboriginal Graves in 

 New Mexico. 



During the field season of 1874 of the Expedition for Explorations 

 west of the 100th M., the party under direction of the writer camped 

 for a few days at Abiquiu in the valley of Chama, in order to make a 

 geological reconnaisance of the neighboring mountains, as well as to 

 investigate the contents of certain graves said' to be in close proximity 

 to a ruined pueblo not far from the town. Our informant had received 

 his information from the village padre, and to him we paid our res- 

 pects, and found from his statements that no doubt existed as to the 

 presence of human bones at the point indicated. He had not seen 

 any himself, but had been informed by his herdsman that skulls and 

 bones were frequently washed out after a heavy rain from the arroyas 

 on either side of the pueblo, the location of which he clearly indicated 

 to us by a rude drawing on the floor of his dwelling. 



