Hints to Beginners with the Microscope. 245 



scraping them with a pen-knife, or, better still, stripping off 

 portions of their bark, the collector will be pretty sure, in 

 favourable situations, to procure the objects of his search ; or 

 thin slices may be shaved from the exterior of submerged piles. 

 Any or all of these taken home in a jar of clear water will be 

 sure to afford materials for study. 



The leaves and stems of the water-lily are the favourite 

 resort of many beautiful species, and on them may be likewise 

 found the eggs of several kinds of insects and mollusca. To 

 obtain these some pains must be taken at the water-side : the 

 leaves should be gently placed with their under surface upper- 

 most in a wide saucer, or shallow dish, filled to a little depth 

 with the clear element, and after remaining undisturbed for a 

 short period should be examined with a pocket lens. Should 

 anything be found worthy of preservation, the part to which it 

 is attached may be cut out with a sharp penknife, so that it 

 may be more easily and safely carried. 



By far the most fertile field, however, and one to which we 

 would specially direct attention, will be found in those con- 

 fervoid growths that in summer time mantle the ponds, cover- 

 ing them with a sort of green carpet, composed of a thick felt, 

 made up of interlacing fibres of such tenuity that it may almost 

 be compared to the pulp from which paper is manufactured. 

 Whoever has watched in early spring the gradual formation of 

 this wonderful growth, will understand at once how valuable a 

 resource it affords to the microscopist. During the winter 

 season, in truth, our ponds are desolate enough; animal and 

 vegetable life seem quite extinct ; and whilst the " snow-broth^' 

 is on the waters it is almost superfluous to recommend our 

 young friends to employ themselves at home in grinding thin 

 sections of anything rather than expose themselves to chil- 

 blains, benumbed fingers, and bad colds. No sooner, however, 

 does genial spring again call forth latent vitality, and the re- 

 turning sun shines brightly on the water, then, as by general 

 consent, nature revives — green tufts appear, in which the young- 

 lings of the year find refuge, and to these alone the naturalist 

 should have recourse. Every little bunch of young confervas 

 gently gathered from the surface of a stone, will at this time 

 be found to swarm with nascent beings, or with creatures in 

 their tenderest stage of early growth, while in the water all 

 around no liviug thing is met with. As spring advances, vege- 

 tation spreads over the bottom of the pool, confervas of all 

 kinds begin to multiply with such rapidity that, rising like a 

 cloud, they tinge the water red or green, according to the 

 colour they assume. Few people trouble their heads about the 

 growth of these confervas, or suspect the miraculous combina- 

 tion of circumstances upon which their rapid increase depends. 



