THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
89 
pends upon the evenness of the lines 
Avhich make it, both the black lines, and 
the white cuts. The color or tone depends 
upon the width of these lines and cuts. 
If possible to cut the second line with- 
out either swerving upwards, making 
the line thinner, or downwards making it 
thicker than at its commencement, a great 
success has been achieved by our student, 
commence every line carefully, and pro- 
ceed slowly, observing closely with the 
eye the width of the lines left, and with 
the fingers the depth of the cuts. You 
Fig. 15. 
will now understand why you were in- 
structed to hold the tools so carefully, for 
to know at what depth you are making 
the cuts, requires great delicacy of touch, 
which you will perceive more and more as 
you proceed. Do not think about the 
time required to cut a line ; let each line 
for the time being be the most important 
matter in the world, and proceed as 
carefully as if you expected to receive 
hundreds of dollars for the beauty and 
precision of your first tint block. The 
"guide lines " in pencil will enable you 
to observe whether you are cutting your 
lines straight, but if, unfortunately, the 
lines get to swerving up or down, do not 
continue in the wrong direction. Stop, 
and take the tool out of the cut, and put it 
into the wood a little further along, and 
observing its distance from the nearest 
guide line, commence again. It is better 
to have stops in the tint than crooked 
lines. It will take quite considerable time 
to get accustomed to the use of tools, so 
that it will be possible to cut an even tint ; 
but patience and perseverance will be re 
warded with success. 
Collecting and Pressing Seaweeds— I. 
'pHE study and collecting of seaweeds 
J- (algae) is a delightful recreation, par- 
ticularly during the summer months, 
when so many are spending their vacation 
on the seashore, and are at times lost 
for something to do. 
The seaweeds of our coast are in their 
greatest beauty and variety during our 
hot summer months. A tide table, or a 
friendly and communicative fisherman, is 
indispensable for reference, as by consult- 
ing either of these you can always bo 
sure of striking the particular part of the 
coast at just the beginning of ebb tide, 
which will give you a chance to collect all 
the w^ay down to extreme low tide, and 
then as the water returns laden with a 
rich harvest of "drift," time and oppor- 
tunity is at hand for a rich haul. In this 
way a locality can be thoroughly worked. 
To save time, and take full advantage of 
the ebb and flood of the tide, do not stop 
to wash the specimens carefully, but pack 
them in your basket compactly together, 
always remembering to keep the tempera- 
ture outside and inside the basket as low 
as possible, or the mass of seaweeds will 
become heated, and fermentation will 
take place, which will utterly destroy 
every specimen. The surest means that I 
know of for protecting the specimens 
from the action of heat is to have a large 
thick towel or blanket loosely laid inside 
the basket, extra pieces of blanketing or 
towels to cover over the top surface of the 
seaw^eeds, and to go around the outside 
and bottom of the basket. These outside 
wrappings are to be fastened on the 
basket with string previous to starting 
home. 
When on your ground collecting, always 
keep the basket sunk in some quiet and 
shady tide pool ; as you collect the speci- 
mens take them to the basket and place 
them in it in layers. Rocky and sandy 
shores are always the best and cleanest 
locations to collect from ; old docks built 
up on spiles are always great hiding 
places for the more delicate kinds of 
algae that delight in shady cool locations, 
and the action of gliding water. Always 
try to be on your collecting ground at the 
