162 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
and will do our best to render a proper re- 
turn by making the Journal as good as pos- 
sible. 
Our readers must, however, bear in mind 
that the more subscribers we get the greater 
will be our power to give them a good 
thing, and therefore we trust that every 
subscriber will not only renew his own sub- 
scription promptly, but endeavor to get 
some of his friends to join him. Our club 
rates are liberal, and our premiums valu- 
able; we ask no one to work for us for noth- 
ing, and we look forward to an enormous 
subscription list during 1879. 
But however this may be, we thank all 
our readers for the support they have given 
us during the past year, and we wish them all 
"A Merby Christmas and Happy New Year." 
A Word to Parents. 
FT is an unfortunate fact that the country 
^ is flooded with juvenile literature which, 
if not of a depraving kind, is, to say the 
least, debilitating to young minds. No boy 
whose mind is filled with dime novels, and 
whose feelings and imagination are excited 
by the false romance and adventure therein 
depicted, can possibly be in that healthy 
intellectual condition which gives promise 
of success either in work or study. And 
yet we find on every hand books and papers 
of this exciting kind. In the city of New 
York alone, it is said that there are twenty- 
five boy's papers of this class; and to crown 
this horror, a clergyman in a neighboring 
city announces a book devoted to "Night 
Sides of City Life," illustrated, and pub- 
lished at a price — fifty cents — which places 
it within the reach of every boy. Already 
one firm has ordered five thousand copies 
of this book in advance of publication, 
thus showing that a large circulation is ex- 
pected amongst families and the young. 
No teacher of youth, and no parent of 
thoughtful experience can fail to see that 
this book will do more harm during the 
next year than the author will be able to do 
good during the remainder of his life. And 
it is a matter of congratulation that such a 
volume is not to be published in New York, 
bad as this city is said to be, but has to 
issue from the press of a western and hith- 
erto unknown publisher. 
In view of these facts, the important 
question comes up — How shall we counter- 
act the effect of this vile literature? To 
this question every religious teacher will, 
of course, have an obvious answer, but it 
seems to us that there is another influence 
which cannot be safely overlooked, and 
that is the influence of useful and instruc- 
tive occupation. Give the boys something 
to DO in their leisure hours. Mere reading 
is not enough. Tbey must have work in 
which they are interested, and in this con- 
nection it is well to remember that the edu- 
cation of the hands is quite as important as 
the education of the mind. Therefore, give 
them tools and teach them how to use them. 
Let them make work-boxes for themselves 
and sisters; kites and boats for themselves, 
and ornamental and useful articles for the 
household. Let them learn how to work 
out new designs for these things, and how 
to copy old ones. Once they become in- 
terested in these things and attain a certain 
measure of success, dime novels and ac- 
counts of night adventures in the city, even 
though these adventures be by a minister, 
will become stale and insipid. 
To teach the boys (and girls too) the use 
of tools and simple instruments, such as 
cheap microscopes, telescopes, etc., is the 
aim of the Young Scientist. We believe 
that the antidote we have pointed out is 
one of the most efficient, and we propose 
to do our part to place it within the reach 
of all. 
A Simple Method of Copying Drawings. 
The following is a simple and easy way to 
obtain copies of drawings. If the drawing is 
in a book, or is one which it is desirable that it 
should not be defaced or injured, it will be 
necessary first to make a tracing of it, which 
is done in the following manner: Take a piece 
of tough vegetable tracing paper, such as may 
be obtained at ordinary book stores, and cut it 
so that it will be about an inch larger all 
around than the drawing. Lay it over the 
drawing, and with a moderately hard pencil 
trace over the lines which it is desired to copy. 
Now take a piece of the same tough tracing 
paper, half an inch smaller than the tracing, 
and lay it on a smooth elastic surface, such as 
