NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



155 



sieve to a strong stiff handle about 

 three feet long, after having re- 

 moved the revolving part of the 

 sieve. 



After you have collected your 

 beetles, exercise all your skill to 

 make a neat collection as well as 

 one that is scientific, for "a thing of 

 beauty is joy forever" and some can 

 gainsay the fact that a well-mount- 

 ed collection of insects is "thing of 

 beauty. " There are two lengths of 

 insect pins commonly used, one 

 an iuch and a half long and the 

 the other one and a third long. 

 Though for general purposes the 

 longer pin is the best, the shorter 

 pins are better for beetles as they 

 are stiffer and so pierce the hard 

 integuments more readily. An 

 incidental benefit is that shallower 

 drawers or boxes may be used. 



All insects collected and pinned 

 should be labeled. The best plan 

 Mot this is to have very small labels 

 printed. There should be three 

 kinds of labels, with the month, 

 collector's name, and county and 

 state locality. 



These should be pinned on the 

 same pins that the insects are 

 pinned. Thus in the case a speci- 

 men of Tetracha virginica there 

 would be a half inch from the head 

 of the pin, the beetle, then about 

 the middle, July, just below this, 

 John Jones, and last of all Doug- 

 las Co., Kan. At the left of the 

 first of the four specimens, in the 

 bottom of the case there should be 

 13. Tetracha virginica, Linn. (The 

 number in Henshaw's Check-list, 

 the scientific name and its authori- 

 jr.) 



Above all things remember a 

 collection in any scientific study is 

 bnly a means to an end, that end 

 being learning, and that the great 

 end in all is to understand some 

 portion of the great system laid 

 down in the beginning by the great 

 authors. 



John Colburn Bridwell, 



Baldwin, Kans. 



Artistic Taxidermy. 



We clip the following from a re- 

 cent issue of the Washtenaw Times 

 (Ann Arbor, Mich.): 



. There has just been completed 

 in the University museum a piece 

 of work which in the line of artis- 

 tic taxidermy is probably unequal- 

 led in the United States. It is a 

 case of North American mammals 

 and is the work of Adolph B. Co- 

 vert, the taxidermist. 



On entering the mammalian 

 room the first object that arrests 



the attention is a group of three 

 Michigan deer lying partially con- 

 cealed in a mass of willows and 

 tall grass. Immediately back of 

 these is a fine specimen of Ameri- 

 can buffalo, and accompanying 

 him is the prairie dog, character- 

 istic of the western plains. . Then 

 is found a group of muskrats, a 

 mother rat with little ones scarce- 

 ly larger than your finger. Ad- 

 joining the rats are the mink and 

 otter; the latter is a remarkably 

 fine specimen and is indeed a true 

 work of art. The Jack rabbits 

 and northern hares, also the com- 

 mon grey rabbits are next in or- 

 der, and then come a group of 

 gophers and chipmunks; of the 

 latter a fine albino specimen is 

 shown. Passing on one comes to 

 the badgers, and near their den is 

 a group of woodchucks. In this 

 collection the old fellow coming 

 out of the hole looks as though he 

 were alive. Near these and at the 

 foot of the hill lies a fine old buck 

 deer. At the rear of this deer 

 arises a large oak tree upon which 

 are found squirrels, opossums, 

 porcupines, bats, etc. At the front 

 of the case is another group of 

 opossums. 



A colony of beavers next arrests 

 the attention. There is also a fine 

 group of foxes, both red and gray, 

 and a very large gray wolf from 

 north Michigan. Close by is a 

 small group of weasels. Then we 

 come to the lynx and wild cats. 

 One of the lynx is standing over 

 his prey with ears laid back, eyes 

 half-closed, and open mouth: 

 words cannot express the look up- 

 on his face, it must be seen to be 

 appreciated. The other lynx is 

 lying at the mouth of the hole, his 

 big heavy feet stretched out in 

 front of him and a good natured, 

 "don't care" look upon his face. 

 On the edge of the rocks and look- 

 ing down at the lynx is a gray wild 

 cat from Colorado; here again 

 facial expression plays its part, 

 for he has a look of cunning in- 

 quiry as if to say, "Who are you 

 anyway?" Behind this cat on a 

 fallen log are two red cats from 

 northern Michigan; the older and 

 larger of the two has a squirrel in 

 her mouth. Near these and be- 

 hind the lot of rocks is the bear 

 den, containing six fine specimens 

 in all stages of growth; an old fe- 

 male and her two cubs being in 

 the foreground, while in the rear 

 and coming out of the den proper 

 is a fine male sdecimen. Here we 

 also find the "coons, "some asleep, 

 others on the limbs of the trees, 

 while one old fellow sits on a de- 



cayed stump; of these there is a 

 fine albino specimen, also a black 

 one. 



Upon the rocks and near the 

 center of the case, with open 

 mouth, front foot raised and tail 

 lashing his sides, stands a moun- 

 tain lion, the masterpiece of the 

 entire case, and well worth a day's 

 journey afoot to see. Immediate- 

 ly at the heels of the lion stands a 

 snarling coyote or prairie wolf. 

 Above these is a group of wolver- 

 ines, and close to them stands a 

 huge grizzly bear with claws as 

 long as your finger. Then come 

 more gray wolves and wild cats 

 and a small group of pine martens 

 or sables. And as a finish, on a 

 high, over-hanging rock is a big- 

 horn or mountain sheep. 



A profitable half day can be 

 spent in looking at this case, and 

 one is almost lost in wonder as to 

 how this work has been done. It 

 was designed and executed by Mr. 

 Covert, who is making a specialty 

 of museum grouping. The only 

 assistance he has had has been 

 from Mr. Wood, the janitor of the 

 building. Mr. Covert is now at 

 work upon a large case of birds 

 which gives promise of being a 

 thing of beauty, but of this more 

 later on. 



Albino Striped Gopher. 



Spermophilus tridcccnilincatus. 



On May 7, 1895 a friend of mine 

 brought me a nearly pure white 

 Striped Gopher, which he had snar- 

 ed in his cornfield, in Troy town- 

 ship, this county. There is just a 

 few dark hairs on its head and one 

 or two places on the back, other- 

 wise it is pure white. On exami- 

 nation it proved to be a female. 

 Careful measurements show it to 

 be a little less in size than the aver- 

 age Gopher. 



I have always lived in a gopher 

 county. In Wisconsin when a boy 

 I often traped and snared twenty 

 in a single day. Here in Minne- 

 sota they are still more in num- 

 bers than in Wisconsin. I have 

 lived in Minnesota eighteen years, 

 and perhaps I have seen several 

 thousand of these little animals. 

 This is the first Albino that has 

 ever come under my notice. I 

 think they are very rare. There 

 was a report of one being taken 

 near where this one was killed, but 

 it spoiled before it reached me, and 

 I did not even get a chance to see 

 it. The date of this was in June, 

 '93. I shall watch this locality, 

 and perhaps you may hear from 

 me again. A. D. Brown, 



Pipestone, Minn. 



